Economic Cooperation Program to Be Conducted as Scheduled

Despite North Korea`s nuke efforts, the South Korean government plans to honor the economic cooperation program as agreed on between North and South.

Accordingly, a series of meetings between North and South Korean officials will take place as scheduled. Thus, on January 14th, the senior-level talks will be held, followed by working-level meetings for construction of highways and railways, and for improvement of the economic cooperation program itself.

Finance Ministry`s senior official Kim Sung-jin in charge of the program confirmed yesterday, "Despite its conflict with the United States, North still shows a positive attitude toward the cooperation program. It is true that our government could not ignore what`s going on involving the nuclear issue. We, however, do not see any reason for delaying the program."

Unification Minister Chung Se-hyun sent a written telephone notice to his counterpart Kim Young-sung in North on Monday, and suggested that the 9th ministry-level talks between North and South be held in Seoul from January 14th to 17th.

If North Korea accepts this invitation, various issues can be discussed in the meeting. Up on the agenda is the North Korea`s resumption of its nuclear weapons program, along with projects that have been put on hold by the U.N. Command such as the construction of Gaesung Industrial Complex, Mt. Geumgang tourism program over the land, and construction of railways and highways. Diverse working-level dialogs will take place following the minister-level meeting.

North and South plan to hold by the end of this month another working-level talks in Pyongyang to come up with systematic devices to facilitate the cooperation between them, including ways to guarantee investment and to prevent double taxation. Next month, the committee taking charge of the economic cooperation will hold its session in Seoul.

All preparations have been completed for the groundbreaking ceremony for Gaesung Industrial Complex, which has been put on hold. Thus, the ceremony will take place as soon as North and South sign up an agreement guaranteeing safe passage through the DMZ and authorizing construction of a temporary road connecting Munsan and Gaesung.

Kwang-Hyun Kim kkh@donga.com