Minister of Unification Kim Ha-joong

By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter

President Lee Myung-bak urged North Korea, Wednesday, to give up its nuclear ambitions in order to establish itself as a self-supporting economy, as well as maintain peace on the Korean Peninsula.

The President made it clear that his government would engage in open dialogue with North Korea on the basis of national consensus and in cooperation with the international community.

The remarks were construed as the President's intention not to implement South Korean-backed big-ticket cross-border business projects until substantial progress is made in the international talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, North Korea experts said.

During the second-inter Korean summit in Pyongyang last October, former President Roh Moo-hyun promised North Korean leader Kim Jong-il a package of business projects using South Korean taxpayers' money, inviting severe criticism from conservatives.

Lee said, however, existing inter-Korean business programs, such as a South Korean-backed tour of Mount Geumgang in the North and the operation of a joint industrial complex in North Korea's border city of Gaeseong, should be continued, though there is still ``room for improvement.''

Unification Minister Kim Ha-joong backed Lee's policy line on North Korea demanding more reciprocity from the communist neighbor. Kim pledged the government would control the pace of inter-Korean economic cooperation in line with progress at the six-party nuclear talks involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.

``When it gives up its nuclear weapons programs, North Korea will be able to achieve stability, maintain peace and establish a foundation so that the country will become a self-supporting economy,'' Lee said during a policy briefing session by the Ministry of Unification in Seoul.

``We should continue to make efforts to convince the North to scrap its nuclear program within the six-party framework. We're ready to cooperate with North Korea as soon as the nuclear issue is resolved,'' he said.

Lee referred to an inter-Korean agreement signed in 1991. The pact calls for basic principles for inter-Korean reunification, such as denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, reconciliation of the two Koreas, mutual non-aggression and cross-border exchanges.

In its report on North Korea policy goals ― in a major turnaround ― the ministry put priority on ways to resolve human rights problems, including the repatriation of South Korean prisoners of war (POWs) and those believed to have been abducted by North Korean agents since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

``(The ministry) will try to resolve the issue of POWs and abductees as its foremost policy goal from the perspective that the protection of the people is the nation's basic responsibility,'' the ministry said in its report.

The previous Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Dae-jung governments were reluctant to address the North's human rights issue at inter-Korean talks, fearful of harming their engagement policy toward Pyongyang.

The ministry also plans to come up with measures to ensure the transparent and safe delivery of South Korean humanitarian aid to North Korean citizens.

To help facilitate President Lee's flagship ``Vision 3000'' North Korea policy, the ministry will launch a related task force, according to the report. Vision 3000 calls for providing conditional economic assistance to the North over the next decade in cooperation with the international community to help boost North Korea's per capital national income to $3,000.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr