hankyoreh

By Lee Soon-hyuk, staff writer　
“Until the early 1970s, North Korea had higher per-capita incomes than either China or Vietnam. Today, China is experiencing strong growth [after opening its economy], and Vietnam has surpassed North Korea after establishing close ties with its longstanding opponent, the United States, and selling them its goods. If North Korea opens up, it can easily follow the same path as China and Vietnam. South Korea did it [succeed in economic development], so why can‘t North Korea?”
President Lee Myung-bak advocated strongly for North Korean openness while speaking at a press conference as the chair at the conclusion of the Nuclear Security Summit, March 27. His remarks came during questioning from the South Korean and foreign press over North Korea’s nuclear program and recent rocket launch announcement.
Lee said openness is “something North Korea must examine and decide for itself, not something the South Korean government or president can do.”
“I hope North Korea will reach its own conclusion, and I want to express that I’m a bit more concerned because they’re fellow Koreans,” he added.
Lee predicted the Nuclear Security Summit would have a positive effect on North Korea. “While it wasn’t on the official agenda, a lot of leaders expressed concerns about North Korea in the bilateral and general meetings,” he said. “I’m certain there will be a psychological impact on North Korea from the international move [at the summit] not to allow dangerous items to end up with dangerous people.”
Meanwhile, major leaders called unanimously for stronger international coordination on nuclear security. During a keynote speech for the morning session, US president Barack Obama noted that while an agreement had been reached at the Washington summit two years earlier on international coordination to prevent nuclear materials from falling into the hands of terror groups, the nuclear threat was still present.
Obama also called on the leaders of the world‘s nations to go beyond words and into action.
Chinese president Hu Jintao presented specific ideas for regional nuclear security, indicating that support would be provided for training for the ten or so Asia-Pacific countries and efforts to move from highly enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium.
The topic of last year’s Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident in Japan came up at a luncheon meeting, where a decision was made to continue International Atomic Energy Agency discussions on the relationship between atomic energy safety and nuclear security and efforts to create synergy.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, who attended the luncheon, said his organization would make more active efforts toward strengthening nuclear security.

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