"Strengthen Health Cooperation with Buk"

KIEP and Democratic Peaceful Unification Advisory Council Hold '2020 Hanbando New Economy Forum'

President Moon Jae-in and Chairman Kim Jong-un shaking hands after announcing the "September Pyongyang Joint Declaration" on the morning of September 19, 2018, at the Baekhwawon Guesthouse in Pyongyang. / Photo by Pyongyang Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] At a forum held on the 18th by the government-funded research institute Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) and the National Unification Advisory Council (NUAC), there was a call to strengthen health cooperation with North Korea.

KIEP and NUAC held the "2020 New Economic Forum on the Korean Peninsula" at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul on the same day, discussing the situation on the Korean Peninsula and alternatives for inter-Korean cooperation.

Kim Heungjong, President of KIEP, stated, "The recent series of hardline stances toward South Korea by North Korea appears to be a phenomenon linked to internal North Korean circumstances and uncertainties in international relations surrounding the Korean Peninsula," adding, "The most important thing to overcome the current phase is not to lose trust between South and North Korea."

Jung Sehyun, Senior Vice Chairman of NUAC, said, "North Korea will send even stronger hardline messages toward South Korea for the time being," and argued, "Our country should send a message to North Korea that it will firmly implement the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration and the September 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration in consultation with the United States."

In the following session titled "Assessment of the Situation on the Korean Peninsula and Alternative Approaches to Inter-Korean Cooperation," practical alternatives such as inter-Korean health cooperation were proposed.

Cho Sungryeol, Advisory Research Fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy, said, "Even if the COVID-19 situation calms down, global restrictions on the movement of personnel and goods and the restructuring of the global value chain (GVC) will mean that North Korea’s internal and external environment will not be the same as before," adding, "Since North Korea has defined inter-Korean projects as 'anti-state projects' and returned to a hardline stance, the possibility of military provocations cannot be ruled out."

He continued, "The overall direction of North Korea-U.S. dialogue will be determined depending on the results of the U.S. presidential election this November," and added, "The South Korean government should start by pursuing what it can do on its own, such as establishing a legislative basis like the National Assembly’s consent to the Panmunjom Declaration, creating a promotion system to build a peace platform on the Korean Peninsula, and enabling passage and non-military use of the southern side of the Military Demarcation Line and the DMZ."

Yang Moonsoo, Vice President of the University of North Korean Studies, said, "There is a possibility that inter-Korean relations will return to the state before 2018," and predicted, "Although inter-Korean exchange and cooperation will become very difficult in the future, prolonged COVID-19 could make health and medical cooperation a new opportunity factor in inter-Korean relations."

Um Juhyun, Secretary General of the Children's Medicine Support Headquarters, said, "Although South and North Korea agreed to strengthen health and medical cooperation in the September 2018 Pyongyang Joint Declaration, practical consultations could not proceed due to United Nations (UN) sanctions against North Korea," and added, "In the future, inter-Korean health and medical cooperation should be pursued on a humanitarian basis, taking the COVID-19 situation as an opportunity."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.