Aug. 15, 2007 (LPAC)--South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun called for a peace treaty on the Korean peninsula, which would become the basis of creating a "hub" for Northeast Asian economic development, in his speech today commemorating the 62nd anniversary of the liberation of Korea from Japanese domination at the end of World War 11. President Roh will go to Pyongyang Aug. 28-30, to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il for the second-ever North-South Korean summit. The two Koreas are still technically at war, since only an armistice was signed after the 1950-53 Korean war.
Roh said: "When the armistice regime is transformed into a peace regime, and when the South and North join hands to bring in a new economic era, the [Korean] Peninsula will certainly become the hub of the Northeast Asian economy." Peace will allow the South to expand economically into the Eurasian continent and put itself on the map as the logistics, business, and financial hub in Northeast Asia, Roh said, the official Yonhap news agency reported. "And the North will enjoy an opportunity to achieve epoch-making economic development," he said.
The day before, Roh had told his Cabinet that the "most important effort for peace on the peninsula is creating the foundation for inter-Korea economic" cooperation, Inside North Korea reported. "Mutual dependence is the most crucial issue in preserving peace even though we will not let North Korea's nuclear weapons, peace, and other issues slip." Roh also warned anti-North Korean conservatives that, while negotiations will be a long-term process, unless they are launched, there will be no future for the Korean Peninsula. The summit will be attended by a group of 202 South Korean delegates, including 150 officials and 50 journalists.
South Korea's ambassador to Moscow, Li Gyu Hyen, announced that South Korea supports the Russian proposal to set up tripartite inter-governmental commission with both Koreas, to launch large-scale economic projects, Novosti reported from Moscow yesterday. The most important project would be to build a link between the Trans-Korean Railroad--which was reconnected in 2003, and finally opened for a test run this May, for the first time in 55 years--and Russia's Trans-Siberian Railroad.
