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President-elect Lee Myung-bak¡¯s Transition Committee said Monday it will postpone some costly inter-Korean economic cooperation projects including a ¡°peace zone¡± in the West Sea, a shipyard complex in North Korea and the repair of railways and roads in the North. The decision is in line with Lee¡¯s declared intent to link inter-Korean economic projects other than humanitarian aid to progress in North Korea¡¯s denuclearization process.
The transition team¡¯s spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said that the new government will divide inter-Korean cooperation projects into three categories according to their importance and validity. In the first category, humanitarian aid -- rice, fertilizer, medical equipment, forestation and environmental support -- will be provided as in the past. In the second category are projects whose commercial validity has been proven and that will benefit South Korean companies. Those will be carried out within the scope of the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund. They include agreements on natural resource development, transport and communication with the Kaesong Industrial Complex and customs clearance. However, third-category projects, which will cost an enormous amount of money, will undergo a review. They include infrastructure projects, the shipyard complex and the ¡°peace zone¡± including a joint fisheries area.
These projects are the kernel of President Roh Moo-hyun¡¯s summit agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in October last year. The delay is expected to prompt protest from the North, which in a New Year¡¯s editorial published in its three major newspapers called for progress in implementing the agreement.
Meanwhile, the spokesman hinted the Transition Committee is minded to keep the Unification Ministry intact. ¡°We can¡¯t live only on a diet even if it is good for health. We should take into consideration public sentiment and the symbolic meaning of the ministry.¡± There has been speculation that the incoming administration would downgrade the ministry as part of a government restructuring plan.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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