1 week ago. Seoul, South Korea

Why is South Korea making ‘audacious’ plans to help North Korean economy?

Yoon Suk-yeol embarked on the presidency of South Korea Tuesday
In his address, he extended an olive branch to North Korea
North Korea has previously rejected incentives tied to denuclearisation

Yoon Suk-yeol, the new South Korean president, has a plan for North Korea that might help resolve one of the most persistent geopolitical problems of the last century. Yoon, who won the elections in March this year, speaking on the first day of his presidency on Tuesday, said that if North Korea carries out its pledge to denuclearise, South Korea will have an audacious plan to help its neighbour.

“While North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme are a threat not only to our security and that of North-east Asia, the door to dialogue will remain open so that we can peacefully resolve this threat,” Yoon Suk-yeol said at his address to the National Assembly Plaza.

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“If North Korea genuinely embarks on a process to complete denuclearisation, we are prepared to work with the international community to present an audacious plan that will vastly strengthen North Korea’s economy and improve the quality of life of it’s people,” the South Korean president added.

It’s not as if Yoon Suk-yeol always sought good relations with Pyongyang. He was among those political leaders who wanted to the South Korean government to take stronger steps against Kim Jong-un.

Yoon’s olive branch comes at a time when North Korea is planning to conduct a nuclear test. “The door to dialogue will remain open so that we can peacefully resolve this threat.” Pyongyang, on the other hand, inaugurated the South Korean president’s regime with a volley of nuclear threats.

Yoon’s, however, is not the first offer for peace made to North Korea. Previously, Pyongyang has summarily rejected incentives tied to abandoning its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

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A conservative, Yoon seems to be concerned that Kim Jong-un may raise the stakes with his nuclear tests. Both South Korea and the United States anticipate Pyongyang to conduct its first nuclear tests since 2017 by the end of this month. This could happen around the time Yoon meets US President Joe Biden.

During an earlier meeting with Kim Jong-un, Yoon’s overtures of peace failed to make a great deal of progress. Speaking on not being able to show results, Yoon told an American television show that while there’s no reason to avoid meeting, “…if we are not able to show any results, or results are just for show and does not have any actual outcomes in denuclearisation…it’s not going to help the relationship between the two Koreas to progress.”

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Why is South Korea making ‘audacious’ plans to help North Korean economy?

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