Pres. Park urges for a unification roadmap to attract global capital

President Park Geun-hye said on Monday, “We need to create a roadmap to expand the consensus on unification so that it could benefit not only the Korean people but also the world.”

President Park chaired an in-depth discussion meeting of the Presidential Committee for Unification Preparation at the presidential office and urged the attendees to find win-win ideas in which global public and private capital can invest in the Korean Peninsula and the investment can be a seed money for the growth of the global economy.

“If we set up detailed plans on the development of infrastructure and resources in North Korea for the post-unification era, we could attract investments from both home and abroad,” the president said. “We could address the concerns over unification costs as well.” The president also added, “Making unified Korea more attractive to investors is the surest way to raise financial sources.”

President Park urged Pyongyang for a dialogue again. “Mongolia, Vietnam and Myanmar chose reforms and opening its doors and now they are walking on the path of development and growth. Recently, Cuba resumed diplomatic relations with the U.S.,” the president said. “North Korea should not turn its face away from the wave of changes and should come to the path of reforms and dialogues.”

President Park urged the members of the committee to have patience. “There is no need to be impatient about no response from North Korea,” the president said. “When you pour water into a cup where you cannot see inside, you don’t know how much water you poured until it overflows. Like this, if you keep making efforts for unification, you can definitely achieve the goal someday.” The presidential office expects an inter-Korean dialogue after April when the Korea-US joint military drill is over.

“North Korea should make sincere efforts for denuclearization,” President Park said. “The purpose of the trust-building process on the Korean peninsula and the preparation for unification is not to isolate North Korea but to make it a responsible member of the international community. The president added, “Please do your best to recover the homogeneity of the Korean people and create conditions to promote exchanges in the private sector.”