FROM EIR DAILY ALERT
South Korea Unveils Its Master Plan for North Korea’s Development at Korea Global Forum 2018
July 3, 2018 (EIRNS)— Director General for Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Lee Joo-tae of South Korea’s Ministry of Unification presented a “New Economic Map Initiative” at the June 27 Korea Global Forum 2018, sponsored by Seoul’s unification ministry, according to Asia Times today.
The plan, which Lee dubbed as creating “a virtuous circle of peace and prosperity,” includes laying “a foundation for economic unification,” for expanding the South Korean economy northward into Eurasia and securing a new growth engine for the Southern economy.
“Seoul’s plan calls for phased implementation and active cooperation with regional economies—China, Russia and Japan and also includes North Korea’s economic objectives, based around its 2016-2020 five-year plan, its 26 special economic zones and its plans to realize socialism,”
the daily reported.
The South Korean masterplan is based around three “economic belts.”
“The first, on the west of the peninsula, the ‘Yellow Sea Industry/Logistics Belt,’ would create industrial cooperation in special economic zones, linked by a north-south logistics net of road and rail lines running through the key cities of Seoul, Pyongyang, and Shinuiju on the North Korea-China border, and then, into China. The second, on the more rugged eastern side of the peninsula, the ‘Pan-East Sea Energy/Resource Belt,’ would build infrastructure—LNG pipelines and rail lines—linking both Koreas to the Russian Far East. The third, the ‘DMZ Peace Belt,’ across the waist of the peninsula, calls for converting the undeveloped, 4 km-wide Demilitarized Zone into a cooperative space for ecological, environmental and tourist development. It would also include a ‘Maritime Peace Zone’ to obviate naval clashes,”
wrote Asia Times.
The forum included a wide range of speakers who would be involved in such a regional development, including South Korea’s Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, and experts from China, Russia, the United States, Japan, and South Korea.
