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Presidential Committee on Northern Economic Cooperation (PCNEC) chairman Song Young-gil speaks at a press conference regarding economic development among South and North Korea and the US on June 15 at the KT Building in Seoul.

“The South Korean and US media have been criticizing the North Korea-US summit agreement for failing to including the ‘V’ and ‘I’ parts of CVID [complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement]. What we need is complete, verifiable, and irreversible development economically among South and North Korea and the US so that North Korea – which previously went as far as to state in its Constitution that it is a nuclear power – cannot go back again after agreeing to ‘complete denuclearization’ at the summit and openly publicizing that throughout North Korea through the Rodong Sinmun [newspaper] and other media.”

Presidential Committee on Northern Economic Cooperation (PCNEC) chairman Song Young-gil borrowed the “CVID” acronym used for North Korea’s denuclearization to call for “complete, verifiable, and irreversible economic development” among South and North Korea and the US on June 15. His remarks came during a meeting with journalists at his office in the KT Building on Seoul’s Sejong Road.

Responding to criticisms from some quarters that the summit agreement lacks specificity, Song said, “The reason the Sept. 19 agreement [from the Six-Party Talks in 2005] and other agreements on the North Korean nuclear issue fell by the wayside is a lack of mutual trust, so it’s significant that the two leaders established trust at the North Korea-US summit.”

Song also stressed the need to “restore the currently interrupted 104-km Donghae railway line between Gangneung, Gangwon Province, and Jejin [Goseong]” to establish a railway distribution network linked to the Trans-Asian Railway. Originating in Busan, the Donghae line travels through Gangneung and Sokcho and on to the North Korean cities of Wonsan, Kimchaek, and Rajin, where it connects with Russia’s Trans-Siberian Railway in Russia.

“Linking up the Donghae railway was part of the election platform for all the major Gangwon Province candidates in the latest local elections, including Governor Choi Moon-soon,” Song noted.

“While linkage of the Donghae line may not be seen as economically feasible in terms of a cost-benefit analysis, there are exceptions in the State Finance Act when it comes to inter-Korean exchange, and I’m planning to bring the issue of restoring the line with President Moon Jae-in on that basis,” he added.

A test run of the Donghae line was conducted following linkage of the South and North Korea sections in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) region in Apr. 2007, but service has been suspended ever since amid chilly inter-Korean relations. The lines are currently linked between Kumgangsan Chongnyon Station in the North and Jejin Station in the South, but no line yet connects Jejin and Gangneung on the South Korean side. With construction to link the line expected to take around four years, Song voiced hopes that the Donghae line project’s economic feasibility may be better by the time of completion as North Korea-US relations improve and US funding gets involved in the development of tourism in Wonsan – an area which North Korea has recently been emphasizing.

Predicting that the “limiting factors” in northern economic cooperation would decrease in the North Korea-US summit’s wake, Song said the era of full-scale northern economic cooperation is set to begin once follow-up actions are taken.

“A situation has taken shape where we can join Russia in pursuing projects we couldn’t in the past because of the situation on the Korean Peninsula,” he said, predicting the “rate at which we can really feel the effects of cooperation will increase.” He also noted that pursuit of the project could gain momentum with the signing of a more explicit memorandum of understanding (MOU) or other developments when President Moon visits Russia on June 21.

As a concrete example, the PCNEC gave the “Nine-Bridge Project,” a collaborative effort by South Korea, Russia, and Central Asian countries in nine areas – including shipbuilding, seaports, Arctic shipping routes, natural gas, railways, and electricity – proposed by President Moon at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok shortly after the PCNEC’s launch in September of last year.

“Past administrations have attempted northern policies, but relations between South Korea and Russia were always hampered by the excessive linkage to the North Korean nuclear issue,” Song said.

“The idea is to have North Korea participate once the nuclear issue has been resolved, and to first have cooperation by South Korea, Russia, and the Central Asian countries without North Korea’s participation,” he explained.

In contrast with his active stance on northern economic cooperation, Song was more circumspect when it came to inter-Korean economic cooperation.

“The North Korea-US summit ended well, but because it did not lead to a concrete agreement on lifting economic sanctions against the North, I’m cautious about speaking on inter-Korean economic cooperation,” he explained, adding that it “could get fleshed out as time passes.”

“North Korean economic sanctions are overseen by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which is part of the US Treasury Department. We’re working on visiting the US to discuss the matter,” he said.

Song went on to say the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) could help with building infrastructure in North Korea as denuclearization progresses.

“I met with AIIB president Jin Liqun in Beijing last month and asked him about it, and he told me that while financial support is restricted to member countries, support can be extended to non-members if the board of directors agrees,” he recalled.

A plan for northern economic cooperation and inter-Korean economic cooperation is set to be unveiled after a second PCNEC meeting on June 18. Major projects include the pursuit of economic cooperation across borders, promotion of tourism cooperation in the East Sea Rim area, establishment of an integrated European distribution network, building of a Northeast Asian “supergrid,” increased South Korea-Russia cooperation on natural gas, development of new shipping and shipbuilding markets through expansion into Arctic routes, increased access to financing for companies involved in northern efforts, increased cooperation on public health and the healthcare industry, and increased expansions in the areas of agriculture and marine products.

By Kwon Hyuk-chul, staff reporter

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