South Korea has planned to resume economic cooperation with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) when a nuclear issue makes progress, Yonhap news agency reported Tuesday.
An unnamed unification ministry official was quoted as saying the resumption of economic cooperation projects between South Korea and the DPRK will be pushed in the long run when the DPRK's nuclear issue is resolved.
The inter-Korean factory park in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong was closed down under the Park Geun-hye government following the DPRK's fourth nuclear test in January last year.
The tour to the DPRK's scenic resort of Mount Kumgang, launched in 1998, was suspended in July 2008 when a South Korean female tourist was shot dead by a DPRK solider after allegedly venturing into an off-limit area.
Expectations are running high for President Moon Jae-in to inherit the so-called "sunshine policy" of seeking to improve relations with the DPRK through economic cooperation.
Chung Eui-yong, top national security advisor to President Moon, said Monday that the government will seek a way to resolve the two projects within the limits of undamaging the international community's sanctions on the DPRK.
Moon Chung-in, special presidential aide for unification, security and foreign affairs, said in an interview with local newspaper Chosun Ilbo that unnecessarily excessive sanctions were imposed on the DPRK under the conservative presidents of Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye.
To resolve the DPRK's nuclear issue, South Korea should carry out ordinary economic transactions with the DPRK and go in the direction of dialogue, said the special aide who claimed the resumption of the two projects in the long run.
