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| A portrait of President Moon Jae-in, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is displayed at a gallery in Jung-gu, Seoul, on April 27, the second anniversary of the Panmunjeom Declaration. Yonhap |
By Do Je-hae
President Moon Jae-in said Monday that the COVID-19 pandemic has opened up new opportunities for stalled inter-Korean cooperation, which he began promoting following the Panmunjeom Declaration announced after his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un two years ago.
Marking the second anniversary of the inter-Korean summit, Moon evaluated the "improvement in and challenges of" inter-Korean relations during the past two years.
"We will pursue the most realistic and practical ways for inter-Korean cooperation. The COVID-19 crisis could be a new opportunity. For now this is the most urgent task for cooperation," Moon said during a meeting with senior aides at Cheong Wa Dae, according to press pool reports.
"In March, Chairman Kim Jong-un sent a letter to comfort and support the South Korean people and I also responded to it. Starting with cooperation in response to COVID-19, we can also join forces on livestock epidemics as well as disasters near the border and climate change, which will hopefully result in active inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation."
Since his New Year address, Moon said this year will be devoted to a strong push for inter-Korean cooperation despite the long deadlock in denuclearization negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington. For this, he has proposed joint projects in areas of sports, railroad and roads, culture and tourism, in addition to keeping up efforts to reopen the joint Industrial complex in the North Korean city of Gaeseong and tourism to Mount Geumgang, which were closed by previous conservative administrations.
"It is not the lack of our resolve that has hampered the Panmunjeom Declaration from being implemented," Moon said. "It is because of the limitations imposed due to international circumstances. But we cannot wait indefinitely for conditions to improve. We must find and work together on things that can be done within realistic boundaries."
The remarks came amid rising skepticism about the declaration, aimed at reducing military tension and laying the foundation for permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Critics point out that there has been no notable progress with North Korea's denuclearization, despite a series of summits between the two Koreas as well as North Korea and the U.S. since the Panmunjeom Declaration. But Moon stressed once again the significance of the declaration in the peace process on the peninsula. "The declaration led to the Sept. 19 inter-Korean joint declaration and an inter-Korean military agreement, which served as the starting point for bringing our relations to a new level and laid the foundation for the first-ever North Korea-U.S. summit," Moon said.
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| A platform in Jejin station with a sign that says "in the direction of Mount Geumgang" Yonhap |
The government has been pledging to make tangible progress in improving inter-Korean ties this year by implementing projects included in the declaration. Marking the second anniversary of the declaration, it held a groundbreaking ceremony to connect a railway in Gangwon Province severed during the 1950-53 Korean War.
No one from the North took part in the ceremony. Pyongyang's state media have also not mentioned anything about the anniversary.
The project is to construct the Gangneung-Jejin railroad, a section of the Donghae Northern Line, which could be connected to a railway in the North.
"If the two Korea agree, our people can reach North Korean territory beyond the Military Demarcation Line by train from here in Jejin," Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said during the ceremony at Jejin Station. "We will also step up our journey toward a peaceful economy and fulfill the promises of the two leaders."
The administration plans to complete the construction of the 110.9-kilometer railroad linking the border town of Jejin with Gangneung on the east coast by the end of next year.
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