South Korea has on Monday pledged to extend economic cooperation with North Korea aimed to break the Korean peninsula denuclearization process impasse.
According to ANI news reports, newly swore-in unification minister Kim Yeon-chul was quoted as saying, “It is time for us to reap the fruits of peace that we have sown so far.”
Kim added saying, “We need to seize the opportunity for co-prosperity of the South and the North. We never know when such a chance will come again if we miss it.”
Kim said he will work hard to bolster a virtuous circle in which we strengthen peace by using business as a link and strengthen economic cooperation (with North) again based on peace.
He further emphasized the importance of constructing inter-Korean ties in much consistent way. He said, “What is most important at this point is to advance the peace trend that started last year to an irreversible stage.”
However, Kim did not mention any specific project with Pyongyang but has vowed to reopen the halted cross-border programmes, including the construction of an industrial complex in North Korea’s border town of Kaesong and visit Mount Kumgang on the east coast of North.
The development came ahead of a summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and United States President Donald Trump, slated to take place on April 11 in Washington DC, aiming at denuclearization of North’s Peninsula.