SEOUL, May 1 (UPI) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in has shared his vision for an inter-Korean economic cooperation with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Seoul officials said.
A senior presidential official told reporters Monday that Moon revealed he had passed on a booklet and a flash drive containing a video clip on his ‘new economic map for the Korean Peninsula’ to Kim, during their summit on Friday.
Moon’s envisioned economic roadmap for the South and North has been one of his key campaign pledges, which he promised to develop during his speech in Berlin last year.
According to his speech, the South Korean president aims to establish an economic belt and establish an economic community “where the two Koreas proper together.”
This includes reconnecting the severed inter-Korean railway, not only from the South to the North but extending it to China, Russia and even Europe.
He also aims to launch cooperative projects in Northeast Asia, such as connecting gas pipes through the two Koreas and Russia.
The South Korean leader had pledged he would draw out such a map if “there is progress in the North Korean nuclear issue and if appropriate conditions are met.”
There are currently numerous United Nations and independent sanctions imposed on Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile program.
Moon reportedly told his aides Monday that the South and North should quickly and immediately initiate areas of cooperation that aren’t under global sanctions while jointly researching and preparing for economic cooperation that could take place after sanctions are lifted.
South Korea’s economy is currently 22 times the size of the North Korea’s, in terms of Gross National Income.
Per capita GNI for North Koreans stood at around $1,362 in 2016, compared to the $30,000 for South Koreans, JoongAng Ilbo reported.
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