By Kim Yon-se
Staff Reporter
With two weeks to go before a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, President Roh Moo-hyun said Wednesday that North Korea will have a chance to see its economy grow at a faster pace.
In his nationally televised address at a ceremony to mark the 62nd Liberation Day, Roh wished for the era of a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula and better economic conditions in the North.
``When the armistice regime is transformed into a peace regime and when the South and North join hands to bring in a new economic era, the (Korean) Peninsula will certainly become the hub of the Northeast Asian economy,'' he said.
The South will energetically expand into the Eurasian continent and place itself on the map as the hub of trade in logistics, financial services and business, he said. ``And the North will enjoy an opportunity to achieve epoch-making economic development.''
To attain the goal of a simultaneous boom, Roh emphasized that the summit slated for Aug. 28-30 in Pyongyang should be a stepping stone in which the two Koreas will confirm their determination to fulfill previous agreements.
He said now is the time for the parties concerned to strive to put the accords into practice.
Regarding the inter-Korean economic cooperation, Roh said the two sides need to develop cooperation into ``productive investment'' collaboration and into ``two-way'' cooperation. ``In this way, the South will have more investment opportunities, while the North will have a chance to make an economic turnaround.''
Apparently mindful of critics of the summit, Roh expressed hopes that people would not impose burdens on him. ``I do not plan to be overly ambitious in the forthcoming talks. I would rather not try to make a new historic turning point with this meeting.''
He indirectly asked the conservative Grand National Party (GNP) to show a cooperative attitude toward the summit.
``In dealing with the development of inter-Korean relations, partisan interests have no place,'' he said. ``This is not an issue that can be resolved by one administration alone.''
He said the incumbent government should do all it can and hand over its achievements to the next administration, and the next government should try harder to reach a higher level based on existing accomplishments.
As for defense issues, Roh said the government has made efforts to overcome the nation's psychological dependence on the United States while strengthening its potential for self-reliant defense.
He cited the transfer of wartime operational control; redeployment of the U.S. Forces Korea; relocation of the Yongsan Garrison; and progress in implementing the National Defense Reform 2020 as main performances.