Park calls for differentiated Asian development bank

SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Yonhap) -- President Park Geun-hye said Thursday that Seoul's plan to set up a new Asian development bank needs to differentiate itself from the existing regional development banks to draw participation from other nations. Park proposed the Northeast Asian development bank during her visit to Germany last year in a bid to help North Korea develop its economy after the communist regime gives up its nuclear ambitions. "The (Northeast Asian development bank) does not overlap with China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Asian Development Bank. It is particularly designed to help Northeast Asian regions that lack support from these banks," Park said in a meeting of the presidential committee tasked with reunification with the North. Park said the new bank will complement multilateral development banks and strengthen ties not only between the two Koreas but also neighboring countries in the region, calling for efforts to communicate with other nations to draw broad support for the proposal. "We have to highlight the distinguished characteristics of the proposed bank," she said. ejkim@yna.co.kr (END)