By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
Presidential nominee Lee Myung-bak of the Grand National Party (GNP) Monday proposed a tripartite cooperation project among the two Koreas and Russia to exploit Siberian energy for maximizing mutual benefits.
The proposal is part of Lee's new vision for North Korea, which is designed to help its economy grow.
Under the proposed plan, South Korea will provide funding and technology, whereas North Korea will offer its labor force for the use of gas in Siberia, Russia.
Speaking at a forum in Seoul, Lee said North Korea will receive economic aid if it faithfully fulfills its commitment to disable nuclear programs this year.
``It is neither a spending spree nor one-off assistance program. Instead, it is a feasible and sustainable development project geared toward a win-win situation for the two Koreas,'' said the nominee of the conservative GNP.
The plan calls for the establishment of an office to oversee humanitarian assistance programs for the North Koreans.
The office will devise a disaster management system to protect North Korean residents and the economy from possible further floods and other types of natural disaster, it said.
It will also run a variety of medical and humanitarian assistance programs to help improve the situation in the North.
Party officials said that there have been a series of positive signs for peace on the Korean Peninsula since Feb. 13 and that is a major driving force behind Lee's clarification of his stance on North Korea.
Last week, the Korean Central News Agency announced that the North promised to disable the nuclear programs by the end of this year in talks with Christopher Hill, chief U.S. negotiator, in Geneva.
According to the report, the U.S. government said it will remove Pyongyang from the U.S. list of states sponsoring terrorism and lift all sanctions that have been applied according to the Trading with the Enemy Act if the North disables its nuclear programs.
Lee called the North's commitment to disable the nuclear programs ``meaningful progress.''
An inter-Korean summit slated for Oct. 2 and 4 in Pyongyang has also pressed him to review engagement elements for his leadership visions, GNP officials said.
As the presidential election is on Dec. 19, Lee is seeking ways to block the possible negative political fallout of the summit factor on the election.
The pledge is part of the GNP's step to appease North Korea, which has branded the party as an anti-unification group.