The upcoming Singapore summit between President Donald Trump and the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, may result in substantial investments from South Korea and China should it end with Pyongyang agreeing to give up its nuclear arms.
As relations between China and North Korea have improved in recent weeks, some Chinese business people have indicated there may be a boost in two-way trade which until now was blocked by Beijing’s enforcement of international sanctions against Pyongyang.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has similarly suggested he was working on plans to boost the economic ties between the two Koreas and improve political cooperation. These plans include proposals for opening air, road and rail links, and reviving inter-Korean industrial projects, The Wall Street Journal informs.
“I think of it as a horse race. The gates for most investors have been closed for years, but the prospect that they could soon open has many anxious to be the first ones out,” said Kyle Ferrier, director of academic affairs and research at the Korea Economic Institute of America.
For now, all depends on the outcome of Tuesday’s summit. Should North Korea agree to the U.S.’s demands for denuclearization, Washington will lift economic sanctions and provide economic assistance to the country.
For South Korea and China, even a more modest outcome at the Trump-Kim summit could be reason enough to open the door to economic cooperation. According to Benjamin Silberstein, an associate scholar at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, “for China’s part, any diplomatic success should be enough for them to let up on the sanctions enforcement somewhat since the international pressure won’t be the same.”
However, despite promises from the United States to invest in North Korea in exchange for giving up its nuclear weapons program, some officials have indicated the country may not want it.
“The U.S. is trumpeting as if it would offer economic compensation and benefit in case we abandon nuke. We have never had any expectation of U.S. support in carrying out our economic construction and will not at all make such a deal in future, too,” Kim Kye Gwan, a senior North Korean diplomat, said last month.
Be the first to comment