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Sat, March 6, 2021 | 05:03
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Seoul mulls helping NK transport system
정부 "개성-평양고속도로.개성-신의주철도 개보수 검토"
Posted : 2014-08-18 17:27
Updated : 2014-08-18 19:56
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Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae speaks during a meeting with the members of the National Assembly Committee for Foreign Affairs and Unification, Monday. / Yonhap
Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae speaks during a meeting with the members of the National Assembly Committee for Foreign Affairs and Unification, Monday. / Yonhap

By Yi Whan-woo


South Korea is considering providing maintenance services to North Korea to help improve transportation infrastructure there, the government said Monday.

This signals that Seoul is softening its stance toward its northern neighbor following President Park Geun-hye's proposal that South and North Korea team up to try and restore the ecological system in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) during a speech on Liberation Day, August 15.

The Ministry of Unification stated in a report to the National Assembly that it is considering providing maintenance work on the highway between Pyongyang and the inter-Korean border town of Gaesong. It added that the government will push to carry out work on the railroad that connects Gaesong and Sinuiju, which lies on the North Korea-China border.

The proposals were included in 96 projects suggested by the unification ministry to fulfill 10 major tasks under the country's second phase of an inter-Korean relations development plan.

The tasks include facilitating further inter-Korean dialogue, increasing inter-Korean collaboration, normalization of the Gaesong Industrial Complex (GIC) in the North, support for North Korean defectors, education to prepare for inter-Koran integration and expansion of international support for unification between the two Koreas.

The ministry said it will only carry out its plans under "favorable circumstances." However, its move is seen as a bid to lift the so-called May 24 sanctions against North Korea.

The punitive steps ban all inter-Korean cooperation, including trading activities, except for those within the GIC. Seoul took the measures against the internationally-isolated state on May 24, 2010, in response to Pyongyang's sinking of the South Korean frigate Cheonan in March of that year.

The report showed that the five ministries of unification, foreign affairs, the environment and trade plus the Korea Forest Service will work together for inter-Korean environmental conservation efforts. It also said the government is considering joining forces with two international environmental entities ― the United Nations Environment Program and the Global Green Growth Institute.

The plan on environmental preservation is in accordance with President Park Geun-hye's proposal, Friday, for the North to join a U.N. conference to be held in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province from Oct.6 to 14.

She said that the 12th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity will offer an opportunity for the two Koreas to work together on ecological restoration and preservation of the land between the heavily fortified border that divides the two nations.


정부 "개성-평양고속도로.개성-신의주철도 개보수 검토"

2014년도 남북관계발전 시행계획 보고…'고위급대화 정례화 추진'

정부는 남북관계가 호전돼 '여건'이 마련되면 연내라도 호혜적 경협 차원에서 개성∼평양 고속도로 및 개성∼신의주 철도 개·보수 사업 등을 검토해 나가겠다고 밝혔다. 

정부는 또 남북관계 상황에 따라 5·24 대북조치로 중단된 남북 경협을 순차적으로 재개할 수 있다는 방침도 제시했다.

통일부는 18일 국회 외교통일위원회에 이런 내용을 골자로 하는 제2차 남북관계발전 기본계획 2014년도 시행계획(이하 2014년 시행계획)을 보고했다.

2014년도 계획은 2차 남북관계 발전계획이 규정한 10대 중점 추진과제를 위한 30개 세부과제, 96개 단위 사업으로 구성됐다.

정부는 '남북관계 진전에 따른 경제협력 확대' 항목에서 ▲ 개성∼신의주 철도 및 개성∼평양 고속도로 ▲ 임진강 수해방지 사업 ▲ FAO 북한 수산업 지원 ▲ 남북해운 활성화 검토 등을 추진할 수 있다고 밝혔다.

'여건 조성시'라는 단서를 달긴 했지만 정부가 대형 인프라 투자 프로젝트를 구체적으로 제시한 것은 이번이 처음이다.

정부는 또 남북관계 상황을 보아가면서 ▲ 교역 재개 ▲ 기존 경협사업 재개 ▲ 신규 경협사업 등을 단계적으로 추진한다고 밝혔다.

이는 5·24조치의 해제에 관한 기본 방향을 제시한 것으로 평가된다. 천안함 폭침 사건에 따른 대북 제재 차원에서 나온 5·24조치는 남북 간의 인적·물적 교류를 원칙적으로 금지하는 것을 내용으로 하고 있다.

정부는 아울러 '남북 현안을 포괄적으로 협의·해결하기 위한 고위급 대화 채널을 개설하고 정례화를 추진' 계획도 밝혔다. 이와 관련, 정부는 남북관계의 실질적 발전을 견인할 수 있도록 분야별 실무 회담 활성화도 도모하겠다는 방향을 제시했다.

이와 함께 '민족 동질성 회복을 위한 사회문화 교류 추진'을 위해 여건이 조성되면 고구려 고분군에 대한 남북 공동 발굴 등 민족문화 복원을 위한 사업을 확대 추진하겠다는 복안도 밝혔다.

정부는 국회 보고 이후 관보를 통해 2014년 계획을 공개할 방침이다.

통일부 관계자는 '이번 계획에는 통일부뿐만 아니라 24개 중앙행정기관이 시행계획 작성에 참여한 만큼 남북관계 발전을 위한 범정부 차원의 이행계획이 처음으로 제시됐다는데 의미가 있다'고 밝혔다.

이 관계자는 '이번 시행계획은 지난달 31일 남북관계발전위원회에서 심의, 확정됐다'면서 '이번에 2014년도 시행계획이 수립됨으로써 중장기 계획에 따른 일관된 대북정책 추진의 토대가 마련됐다는 데 의미가 있다'고 밝혔다. (연합뉴스) 
Emailyistory@koreatimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter









 
 
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