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Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon (second from right) answers a question during a press conference at the Central Government Complex in Seoul on Apr. 24. (Yonhap News)
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Possible measures are limited due to the international community’s sanctions on North Korea
A senior South Korean government official who will be officially accompanying President Moon Jae-in to his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Apr. 27 said on Apr. 24 that the two leaders “will be able to have a candid discussion” of inter-Korean economic cooperation during the summit. This official added the caveat that “economic cooperation is not the primary agenda of this summit, and it will only be possible if there is [the easing of sanctions by the international community resulting from] progress on denuclearization.” This suggests that while the summit will not lead to an announcement about an agreement for large-scale inter-Korean economic cooperation projects, Moon and Kim will have an in-depth discussion about inter-Korean economic cooperation. This is consistent with Moon’s remark during a luncheon with media company presidents on Apr. 19 that “there is not much that South and North Korea can discuss separately given the ongoing international sanctions” as well as the remark made by Im Jong-seok, chair of the summit’s preparatory committee, during a briefing on Apr. 17 that “we’re not thinking of including as much [in this summit statement] about inter-Korean economic cooperation or exchange and cooperation as we did in the June 15 Joint Statement or the Oct. 4 Summit Statement.” “Easing tensions on the DMZ, military confidence-building and converting the armistice agreement to a peace regime could be discussed inside the larger framework of establishing peace,” the official said, with the proviso that “it’s not realistic to talk about establishing peace without progress on denuclearization.” “Since this is not something that can’t happen all at once but must be approached gradually as circumstances permit, we’ll have to wait and see what the two leaders talk about and how that is added to the summit statement,” the official added. “There are continuing deliberations [between South and North Korea] about the agenda of the summit,” Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said during a press conference on Apr. 24. By Lee Je-hoon, staff reporter Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
