INTERVIEW 'Stronger ties with China, Russia will promote peace'
Rep. Song Young-gil, chairman of the Presidential Committee on Northern Economic Cooperation, speaks at his office in the National Assembly during an interview with The Korea Times, Jan. 4. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
By Choi Ha-young
Stronger economic ties with China and Russia will help North Korea open up to the outside world, said Song Young-gil, the head of the Presidential Committee on Northern Economic Cooperation.
“In resolving the North Korea nuclear issue, South Korea’s economic cooperation with Russia and China can ease military tension and promote economic partnership between the two Koreas,” Song said in a recent interview with The Korea Times.
“We need to strengthen ties with these countries to make North Korea open its doors. That is what the committee is for. We will promote North Korea’s economic reform and make it adopt an open-market policy.”
Song, a four-term lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, insisted that Seoul must bolster multilateral economic ties in an effort to promote peace in Northeast Asia.
The committee is tasked with making a blueprint for economic cooperation with countries north of Seoul ― China, Mongolia and Eurasian Economic Union countries, potentially including North Korea. After being launched in December, the pan-governmental committee is setting up the New Northern Policy declared by President Moon Jae-in.
The policy, coupled with the New Southern Policy, aims at diversifying the country’s economic partnerships with northern and southern countries other than the two superpowers ― the United States and China. At the same time, the government is eyeing synergy with China’s “One Belt One Road Initiative” and Russia’s bid to develop its Far East.
“Currently, South Korea’s economy is leaning too heavily on its two largest trade partners. The committee’s goal is to discover new growth engines and attract Pyongyang to the economic community in Northeast Asia,” Song said.
Basically, the committee is meant to work as a facilitator for local companies to expand to the northern countries. “Trade with Russia accounts for a scant 1.2 percent. This shows there’s a great potential in the New Northern Policy,” he noted.
Nine-bridge strategy
The liberal President came up with a more concrete plan named the Nine-bridge Strategy in a speech at the Eastern Economic Forum in Russia, in September last year. The initiative seeks Korea-Russia cooperation in the nine industrial sectors of shipbuilding, harbors, developing arctic shipping, gas, railroad, electricity, industrial complexes, agriculture and fisheries.
Bilateral cooperation in shipbuilding is already achieving results. On Jan. 3, President Moon visited a shipyard of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province.
“I proposed Moon to visit there as a symbolic move to encourage the industry which has been sluggish for years,” he said. “By cooperating with Russia, I hope the industry will see new demand.”
The company has exported 15 ice-breaking tankers to transport liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Russia. The project is part of Moscow’s Yamal LNG project to export the energy through the Arctic.
“The Arctic shipping route is the shortest, shortening the 7,000 kilometers distance from Asia to Europe. As the commercial value of the Arctic route increases, the government will back up the resources, shipping and shipbuilding industries to make use of it,” he said.
Song acknowledged that Moon’s five-year term might not be enough to complete the nine-bridge strategy. “The committee will not set unrealistic goals,” he said. “Building a gas line to connect Russia and South Korea, via the North, could be difficult in the near future.”
The energy project was floated by ex-Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, but proved fruitless.
Song believes that past governments’ bids to cooperate with northern countries failed because the projects were tied to North Korea’s denuclearization. Based on this reason for failure, the committee put cooperation with other countries before any with Pyongyang.
“Instead, the committee is seeking to increase LNG imports from Russia,” Song said. Currently, most of the nation’s LNG is coming from Qatar and Oman, which could be unstable due to regional political insecurities.”
For this, he said he will visit the Yamal Peninsula in Russia at the end of this month.
Being connected to the Trans-Siberian Railway to reach out to the European market is another goal that overlaps with former President Park’s Eurasia Initiative.
“I will push for the railroad project gradually. Firstly, I am trying to facilitate Korean products’ delivery from a Vladivostok port. The second goal is making use of the Russian port of Khassan and North Korea’s Rajin port. Eventually, the committee will make efforts to connect railroads to the southern city of Busan.”
North Korea factor
Needless to say, the committee needs North Korea’s participation to flourish. However, Song said the committee will “do what it can do first.”
“The Eurasia Initiative was no more than a slogan that lacked action,” he said. “International society cannot recognize the North’s nuclear ambition but we cannot waste time under this pretext.”
The lawmaker recently drew up a revision bill in preparation for the North’s involvement in the nine-bridge strategy if international sanctions against the regime are lifted.
“Currently, there’s no legal basis to support inter-Korean projects held in a third country such as China or Russia,” he said. “North Korea’s cheap labor force could be our comparative advantage. In the face of China’s enormous economic power, a better relationship with the North could be the South’s leverage in diplomacy.”
Song reiterated that the U.S. holds the key to the North Korean nuclear issue. “The normalization of the Washington-Pyongyang relationship is the only possible way to make the North abandon its nuclear weapons.”
“China’s suggestion of simultaneously halting joint military drills between Seoul and Washington on the condition of a nuclear freeze by Pyongyang deserves consideration,” he said. “At the same time, the U.S. should send out a reliable signal that it will guarantee North Korea’s security if it abandons nuclear weapons. How can the North trust the U.S. government, which easily undermined the Iran nuclear deal?”
He criticized some conservatives’ “dichotomous thinking” which calls on the nation to pick only one option between Washington and Beijing. “Even Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is reportedly pursuing cooperation in China’s One Belt, One Road project, while trying to counter China’s growing maritime influence,” he said.
“Conservatives are concerned that President Moon’s cooperation in China’s infrastructure project may irritate the U.S., but such a confrontational view doesn’t work in global dynamics. Rather, Korea needs to adopt flexible thinking. For example, better Korea-China ties could be an effective tool in preventing Pyongyang’s military provocations.”
During the presidential election in May last year, Song was a leading campaigner for Moon. Right after the inauguration, Song was appointed as a special envoy to Russia and met Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“As a former key campaigner, I am obliged to support the President to achieve his declaration in Berlin ― building a permanent system to uphold peace and dissolve the Cold War on the Korean peninsula,” Song said.