Unification Ministry Spells Out Peace-Building Measures

The government has decided to carry out measures in earnest to change the current state of the Korean peninsula from truce to peace, based on its conclusion that the joint statement of September 19, 2005 on North Korea’s nuclear dismantlement is being implemented in light of the agreement reached in the recent six party talks.

It is also set to put 530,000 pyeong of land in the Gaesong Industrial Complex up for sale in March, which had been shelved since Pyongyang’s missile test-firing last July (1 pyeong equals 3.3 square meters). The initial plan was to divide the sale into three rounds, but now the government is considering selling the land all at once.

Such measures are part of the 2007 peace-building plan that Unification Minister Lee Jae-jung announced at a press conference yesterday in the government complex located in Sejong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Minister Lee, stressing the need for full implementation of peace process on the Korean peninsula, said the government is committed to the peaceful resolution of DPRK’s nuclear crisis, will ease military standoff across the DMZ, and lay foundation for peace.

As to the formation of a peninsula peace forum mentioned in the September 19 statement, he said that the two Koreas should play a main role whether it might involve four countries, the two Koreas, the U.S. and China, or more.

In addition, the ministry will expand mutually beneficial economic cooperation initiatives and devise mid to long term strategies for establishing better economic infrastructure in the North.

Humanitarian aid will be provided separate from politics.

The infrastructure building plan backed by Seoul is expected to include Social Overhead Capital projects first, notably the modernization of Nampo Port and repair and maintenance of railroads.

However, critics expressed concerns that the ministry is going too far too fast when there is even no consensus on how to resolve nuclear problems and dispose of nuclear weapons.

taewon_ha@donga.com