3-nation economic cooperation offers huge potential
The import of 45,000 tons of coal worth about $4 million is a small ― almost negligible ― trade deal. But, if that coal was produced in Russia and arrived here via North Korea, it becomes a completely different story.
So huge was the economic ― and political ― meaning of the arrival in Pohang Saturday of the Siberian coal, which was carried on a 54-km railway that links Khasan in the Russian Far East and North Korea's port city of Rajin, where the coal was loaded onto a vessel leased by Korean importers.
The coal purchase was significant, as it was the first business project ever involving the three countries.
Through the mediation of Russia, the two Koreas also resumed their economic cooperation, which has been frozen since May 2011, except for the South-North joint business in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.
It of course remains to be seen whether, and for how long, the trilateral coal import business will continue. There might be several variables and risks, such as whether Russia could maintain a stable supply at the proper prices and whether the unpredictable North Korea will guarantee the cargo's passage through its territory despite the possible increase in tensions between the Koreas.
These will be obstacles for the three governments to surmount if they are to develop the fledgling economic cooperation to full-scale projects, not only in mineral resources and transportation but in other areas. It is encouraging that unlike the inter-Korean project in Gaeseong, North Korea will find it more difficult to take the three-nation business as hostage even if it wants to because it cannot help being aware of Russia, which is becoming more and more of a partner with the North.
If the three countries manage to get over initial difficulties, the economic rewards will be tremendous: the sea route that starts in Busan and stops at Rajin can allow vessels to reach Europe in 14 days via the North Pole, 10 days earlier than the current Southeast Asian-Suez Canal route. If the two Koreas agree, the inter-Korean rail could be linked to the trans-Siberian railway. And, if the Koreas decide to do so, they will be able to import Siberian gas through pipelines, which can also be extended to Japan. In short, President Park Geun-hye's "Eurasian initiatives" can become a reality.
This demonstrates why the Park administration needs to lift economic sanctions on the North that its predecessor imposed four and a half years ago to punish Pyongyang's torpedoing of a South Korean corvette, causing the deaths of 46 sailors. The May 24, 2011 sanctions have long lost their effects, and suffering more from it are South Korean businesses. Nothing showed this better than the ongoing coal import business, in which a South Korean consortium had to take part as an indirect party by taking over half of the Russia's equity, not as a full and equal partner.
No less important is the political implications of North Korea's equi-distance diplomacy between China and Russia, and Moscow's "southward advance," to exert greater influence on matters related to the Korean Peninsula.
There are warnings the Korean Peninsula could be the biggest victim of the "new Cold War era." This is no time to be mired in petty inter-Korean one-upmanship, nor to sit and watch regional giants, including Russia, try to determine Koreans' fate.
The import of 45,000 tons of coal worth about $4 million is a small ― almost negligible ― trade deal. But, if that coal was produced in Russia and arrived here via North Korea, it becomes a completely different story.
So huge was the economic ― and political ― meaning of the arrival in Pohang Saturday of the Siberian coal, which was carried on a 54-km railway that links Khasan in the Russian Far East and North Korea's port city of Rajin, where the coal was loaded onto a vessel leased by Korean importers.
The coal purchase was significant, as it was the first business project ever involving the three countries.
Through the mediation of Russia, the two Koreas also resumed their economic cooperation, which has been frozen since May 2011, except for the South-North joint business in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.
It of course remains to be seen whether, and for how long, the trilateral coal import business will continue. There might be several variables and risks, such as whether Russia could maintain a stable supply at the proper prices and whether the unpredictable North Korea will guarantee the cargo's passage through its territory despite the possible increase in tensions between the Koreas.
These will be obstacles for the three governments to surmount if they are to develop the fledgling economic cooperation to full-scale projects, not only in mineral resources and transportation but in other areas. It is encouraging that unlike the inter-Korean project in Gaeseong, North Korea will find it more difficult to take the three-nation business as hostage even if it wants to because it cannot help being aware of Russia, which is becoming more and more of a partner with the North.
If the three countries manage to get over initial difficulties, the economic rewards will be tremendous: the sea route that starts in Busan and stops at Rajin can allow vessels to reach Europe in 14 days via the North Pole, 10 days earlier than the current Southeast Asian-Suez Canal route. If the two Koreas agree, the inter-Korean rail could be linked to the trans-Siberian railway. And, if the Koreas decide to do so, they will be able to import Siberian gas through pipelines, which can also be extended to Japan. In short, President Park Geun-hye's "Eurasian initiatives" can become a reality.
This demonstrates why the Park administration needs to lift economic sanctions on the North that its predecessor imposed four and a half years ago to punish Pyongyang's torpedoing of a South Korean corvette, causing the deaths of 46 sailors. The May 24, 2011 sanctions have long lost their effects, and suffering more from it are South Korean businesses. Nothing showed this better than the ongoing coal import business, in which a South Korean consortium had to take part as an indirect party by taking over half of the Russia's equity, not as a full and equal partner.
No less important is the political implications of North Korea's equi-distance diplomacy between China and Russia, and Moscow's "southward advance," to exert greater influence on matters related to the Korean Peninsula.
There are warnings the Korean Peninsula could be the biggest victim of the "new Cold War era." This is no time to be mired in petty inter-Korean one-upmanship, nor to sit and watch regional giants, including Russia, try to determine Koreans' fate.
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