By Kang Seung-woo
President Moon Jae-in's third-anniversary press conference is
fueling speculation that South Korea is set to act independently of the United States to promote inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation that could take place in the areas of healthcare, railways and tourism.
Such a move has come from the idea that Seoul cannot just wait until progress is made in denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington, with this being unlikely for a while.
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| President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un walk on a bridge in the truce village of Panmunjeom during their summit, April 27, 2018. / Korea Times |
"Unlike expectations, talks between North Korea and the U.S. have stalled and no one knows whether they could reap the fruits. Particularly, when taking a look at the U.S. political calendar, we can surely say this," Moon told reporters, Sunday, after his public address from Cheong Wa Dae.
"What I propose is we have to do what the two Koreas can do regardless of the deadlock in U.S.-North Korea denuclearization talks."
However, the President said that the cooperation projects must remain subject to United Nations sanctions imposed on the North for its nuclear and missile programs, while noting that they could easily be granted exceptions by the international community.
Since the start of this year, Seoul has ambitiously pushed for inter-Korean projects in various fields to more engage with Pyongyang, but the coronavirus outbreak has put Moon's plans on hold.
However, the government is trying to bring his inter-Korean initiatives back to life by taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moon has repeatedly proposed cross-border healthcare cooperation and he reaffirmed, Sunday, that his suggestion still stands.
"Although both South and North Korea have successfully handled the coronavirus, many experts warn of a second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak and in that respect, I am proposing inter-Korean quarantine cooperation," Moon said.
"We will keep making offers to the North until they are accepted."
Yun Kun-young, a former presidential secretary for state affairs who was elected to the National Assembly last month, also said joint quarantine measures were essential for both sides and this would be agreeable to the North.
"For example, we compare the Korean Peninsula to a car and North Korea-U.S. ties as the front wheels and inter-Korean relations as the rear ones. If the front wheels do not run smoothly, the rear wheels should work properly to steer the vehicle properly," Yun, who visited the North as one of Moon's special envoys in early 2018, said in a radio interview, Monday.
Along with the anti-virus cooperation, Moon believes there are other sectors where the two Koreas can work together such as railroads and tourism.
The South has initiated a project to reconnect inter-Korean railways, which was agreed to during the 2018 summit between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. It began constructing a railway line from the east coastal city of Gangneung to the border town of Jeji last month.
In addition, the Moon administration hopes to launch individual tourism by South Koreans to the North. It also plans to resume tours to the truce village of Panmunjeom next month.
Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul already confirmed Moon's stance last week, telling a press conference that the government needed to find ways to pursue viable inter-Korean projects instead of waiting for the right conditions to be met.
Despite Moon's ambitious efforts, it remains to be seen if his plans will pay off as the North Korean regime has not responded to any of his offers. Instead, it has shown signs of trying to improve ties with its traditional allies China and Russia.
Since the collapse of the Hanoi summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim in February 2019, the North has given the cold shoulder to the South's entreaties.
