There are growing expectations for inter-Korean economic cooperation after the recent North Korea-U.S. summit in Singapore.
The South Korean government and local businesses hope that Pyongyang sticks to its word on denuclearization,... so sanctions could be lifted and business can start to blossom again.
Kim Hyesung reports.
A more prosperous future for North Korea?
Maybe,... but only if it scraps its nuclear arsenal.
This is part of a video clip U.S. President Donald Trump presented to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at their historic summit in Singapore.
The agreement between Pyongyang and Washington to work toward the regime's complete denuclearization is raising hopes for the lifting of global sanctions in the future and the opening of inter-Korean economic cooperation, which was highlighted as a foundation for peace and prosperity in the Panmumjom Declaration signed in April.
President Moon Jae-in's "New Economic Map for the Korean Peninsula" calls for the linking of three economic belts, covering transportation, logistics and industry,... energy and natural resources,... as well as the environment and tourism along the Demilitarized Zone.
"From reconnecting railways between the two Koreas to modernizing infrastructure in the North, hopes of inter-Korean economic cooperation are high."
South Korean companies, including Hyundai Group, have set up special task forces to look into possible infrastructure projects and the reopening of the Kaesong Industrial Complex.
North Korea's underdeveloped roads, railways and energy needs are all seen as enormous business opportunities, not to mention its labor force and an estimated six trillion U.S. dollar's worth of mineral reserves, including iron and zinc.
"Combined with North Korea, the Korean peninsula will boast a market of 80 million people. South Korea, which is stuck in a middle-income trap, will be able to find a new growth engine,... while the North will be able to modernize its economy. If successful, transport links could open a pathway to enter the rest of the Eurasian continent. But all this is for the long-run and only after international sanctions on Pyongyang are lifted."
Since last year,... the UN Security Council has banned all key North Korean exports, capped fuel shipments to the North, and subjected North Korean government officials to a global asset freeze led by the Trump administration's "maximum pressure" campaign.
On top of ridding sanctions,... getting funding resources for possible projects remain as challenges.
But to seize the opportunity,... the South Korean government and companies' preparation to engage in economic cooperation with the North is now only gaining further traction.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.
