ID :
20223
Fri, 09/19/2008 - 20:32
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/20223
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Inter-Korean pact to cost $12 bln: ministry By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Yonhap) -- Implementation of inter-Korean economic projects agreed to last year will cost South Korea more than US$12 billion, Seoul's Unification Ministry said Friday, as the conservative government here insists on linking the deal to Pyongyang's nuclear disarmament.
Seoul's ex-President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il agreed last October to cooperate on some 40 economic projects, including expansion of the South Korean run Kaesong industrial complex in the North, estimated to cost 3.3 trillion won.
According to the Unification Ministry, the government will need up to 14.3 trillion won ($12.7 billion) to implement all of the projects, equivalent to about 9 percent of the North's gross domestic income. If implemented, the deal would provide the impoverished state with $138 billion in economic benefits, local experts said.
"The amount is just an estimate," the ministry said in a report to a ruling party lawmaker. "The exact expenses can only be determined after we survey the actual sites."
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who took office in February, has made clear several times that his government will carry out the inter-Korean pacts only after Pyongyang fully abandons its nuclear ambitions.
"Carrying out the Oct. 4 deal will cost well over 10 trillion won. The government has no intention to implement the pact until dialogue at least is resumed with Pyongyang," Unification Minister Kim Ha-joong told a parliamentary session last week.
President Lee in particular opposes implementing big-budget business programs that place a significant financial burden on South Korean taxpayers already suffering from rising inflation triggered by high oil costs.
North Korea's shooting of a South Korean tourist near the Mt. Geumggang resort in July further chilled relations between Seoul's conservative government and the commuist state, with citizens here calling for suspension of all economic and humanitarian aid to the North.
North Korea, which tested a nuclear device in 2006, has recently retreated from a six-nation deal on denuclearization by threatening to restart its nuclear reactor.
The multi-lateral deal was struck between the two Koreas, Japan, China, Russia and the United States.
Angered by the conservative Lee administration's hardline policy, Pyongyang has refused to resume dialogue and acusses South Korea of "ignoring" the inter-Korean agreement.
Seoul's ex-President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il agreed last October to cooperate on some 40 economic projects, including expansion of the South Korean run Kaesong industrial complex in the North, estimated to cost 3.3 trillion won.
According to the Unification Ministry, the government will need up to 14.3 trillion won ($12.7 billion) to implement all of the projects, equivalent to about 9 percent of the North's gross domestic income. If implemented, the deal would provide the impoverished state with $138 billion in economic benefits, local experts said.
"The amount is just an estimate," the ministry said in a report to a ruling party lawmaker. "The exact expenses can only be determined after we survey the actual sites."
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who took office in February, has made clear several times that his government will carry out the inter-Korean pacts only after Pyongyang fully abandons its nuclear ambitions.
"Carrying out the Oct. 4 deal will cost well over 10 trillion won. The government has no intention to implement the pact until dialogue at least is resumed with Pyongyang," Unification Minister Kim Ha-joong told a parliamentary session last week.
President Lee in particular opposes implementing big-budget business programs that place a significant financial burden on South Korean taxpayers already suffering from rising inflation triggered by high oil costs.
North Korea's shooting of a South Korean tourist near the Mt. Geumggang resort in July further chilled relations between Seoul's conservative government and the commuist state, with citizens here calling for suspension of all economic and humanitarian aid to the North.
North Korea, which tested a nuclear device in 2006, has recently retreated from a six-nation deal on denuclearization by threatening to restart its nuclear reactor.
The multi-lateral deal was struck between the two Koreas, Japan, China, Russia and the United States.
Angered by the conservative Lee administration's hardline policy, Pyongyang has refused to resume dialogue and acusses South Korea of "ignoring" the inter-Korean agreement.
