By Lee Min-hyung
The Ministry of Unification has added inter-Korean economic cooperation to the new chapter of its annual unification textbook, the ministry said Monday.
The decision came amid the recent inter-Korean reconciliation mood initiated by the North Korean leader's rare gesture for peace last year.
Under the title “The economy on the peninsula of peace and prosperity,” the fifth chapter of the 2019 book included details on how the two Koreas can speed up their economic engagements despite the recent failure of the Washington-Pyongyang summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
“The decision (to add the inter-Korean economic cooperation into the textbook) falls in line with the ministry's efforts to get the public to pay more attention to inter-Korean relations with a focus on economic ties,” a government official said, Monday, asking for anonymity.
The reference book also underlined the need for the South to recognize the North as a partner for prosperity, adding that the government and the public need to understand the North in a balanced way.
In the second chapter of the annual publication, the unification ministry introduced the upheaval on the peninsula last year when the two Koreas held three summits between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and the regime's young leader.
The book is distributed to the South's middle and high schools as well as libraries and public organizations as a source of unification education here.