Seoul says denuclearized N. Korea eligible for substantial aid

By Lee Chi-dong
PHUKET, Thailand, July 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top nuclear envoy reaffirmed
Tuesday that his country will offer substantial financial incentives to North
Korea if it takes concrete steps towards denuclearization.
South Korean government officials briefed foreign investors on the plan earlier
this month in a video conference organized by Goldman Sachs, according to Wi
Sung-lac, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs,
who participated in the event.
"Various ideas were discussed on ways to help North Korea when it is
denuclearized," Wi said. The nuclear envoy is here accompanying Foreign Minister
Yu Myung-hwan, who is attending the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).
Wi emphasized, however, that the North's denuclearization is a precondition for
such aid.
The South's conservative Lee Myung-bak administration, while taking a tough
stance on Pyongyang, has pledged to help the impoverished communist neighbor
raise its gross domestic income to US$3,000 over a decade if it abandons its
nuclear program.
As part of the so-called "Denuclearization, Openness, 3,000," campaign, Seoul
aims to create an aid fund worth $40 billion with the assistance of the Asian
Development Bank and the World Bank.
The project, conditioned on the North's denuclearization, has been idled by its
continued provocations. The country launched a long-range rocket in April and
quit the six-way nuclear talks. The following month, it conducted a second
nuclear test, prompting the U.N. to impose a new set of sanctions.
But Seoul's ambitious aid plan drew renewed attention after the U.S.
administration indicated a "two-track" strategy on dealing with the North, which
involved strictly enforcing sanctions while also attempting to lure Pyongyang
back to the bargaining table.
Kurt Campbell, newly appointed assistant secretary of state for East Asia and
Pacific affairs, said Washington is ready to offer a "comprehensive package" of
incentives to the North.
"If North Korea is prepared to take serious and irreversible steps the U.S.,
South Korea, Japan, China and others will be able to put together a comprehensive
package that would be attractive to North Korea. But in this respect, North Korea
really has to take some of the first steps," he told reporters during his trip to
Seoul over the weekend.
South Korean officials said Campbell's comments reflect Seoul's push for a "Big
Deal" with North Korea to replace phased "small deals" previously sought by the
George W. Bush administration.
The North's five dialogue partners -- the U.S., South Korea, China, Russia, and
Japan -- had provided political and economic benefits in return for individual
steps taken by Pyongyang towards denuclearization, such as the disabling of its
nuclear facilities.
"Such a step-by-step approach for short-term accomplishment has proved to be
reversible, however, as North Korea has restarted its Yongbyon nuclear reactor,"
a South Korean foreign ministry official said.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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