Action plan for better ties

 

 

It looks as if the ice has begun to melt along the 38th Parallel, the de facto ceasefire line between North and South Koreas. In what would lead to an extraordinary collaboration between two nations technically at war, the premiers of North and South Korea, Kim Yong II and Han Duck Soo, announced a package of colossal cross-border financial initiatives after three days of negotiations in Seoul last month. It includes, among others, an agreement to start cross-border stowage train facility for the first time in more than 50 years. The inter-Korean railways will eventually be correlated to the Trans-Siberian railroad in Russia in an overland transmit linking the isthmus to Europe cutting journey time for shipments presently delivered via sea. The railroad stands astride a profoundly militarised border-line. It starts from a combined-enterprise industrial complex in Kaesong, going south to Mundan and then to Bongdong. About 25 South Korean concerns run industrial units in Kaesong employing 20,000 North Koreans and producing over $1 million worth of shoes, garments and labour-intensive goods each month.

In lieu of assisting reconstruction of North’s ailing economy, the South Korean-funded ventures will ease military strain by increasing human, freight and Internet traffic across the Demilitarised Zone. Meanwhile, the North has agreed to relocate its warships from Haeju, a key naval base near the border, to make room for South Korean cargo ships and a new industrial complex. “These initiatives will slowly make DMZ dilute,” said Mr. Lee Chung Min, an expert on North Korea at Seoul National University, while talking to TSI. “These are a springboard towards a confederacy of the two Koreas prior to ultimate reunification.” Meanwhile, trade between the two Koreas surged 23 percent to $1.4 billion in the first 10 months of this year. During the summit, the two leaders also signed an accord calling for a peace treaty to replace the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War and for the strengthening of economic ties.

The summit was a fallout of the concerted political and economic pressure from the US, Japan and China, which is the nearest state North Korea has to an ally. China also provides North Korea with the oil and food supplies which keep the country from collapsing.