South Korea proposes a large aid plan against the denuclearization of North Korea
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol announced on Monday that he would offer a major aid package to Pyongyang in exchange for the country's denuclearization.
REUTERS - POOL
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol announced on Monday that he would offer a major aid package to Pyongyang in exchange for denuclearization, a type of offer long scorned by North Korea.
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Believing that denuclearization is "
essential
" for a lasting peace in the peninsula, Yoon Suk-yeol detailed his offer which would include food, energy, but also help for the modernization of infrastructures such as ports, airports and hospitals.
The plan will "
dramatically improve North Korea's economy and the standard of living of its people in stages, if the North ceases to develop its nuclear program and embarks on a genuine and substantial process of denuclearization
", said the South Korean President for a speech marking the anniversary of the end of Japanese colonial rule in 1945.
Last week, Pyongyang threatened to "
eradicate
" South Korean officials, accusing Seoul of being behind the country's
Covid-19
outbreak .
In July, North Korean leader
Kim Jong-un
said he was "
ready to mobilize
" his nuclear capabilities in the event of war with the United States or South Korea.
For specialists in the region, the chances of seeing Pyongyang accept this offer, already mentioned during Yoon Suk-yeol's inauguration speech, are very slim, since North Korea, which invests a large part of its GDP in its arms program, has long made it clear that it would not enter into such an agreement.
North Korea conducted a
record slew of weapons tests
this year, including firing a full-range intercontinental ballistic missile, the first since 2017.
Washington and Seoul
have repeatedly warned him in recent months that North Korea was preparing to carry out a new nuclear test, which would be the seventh in its history.
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To listen: Tongil-Chon, the village at the heart of the border between the two Koreas
(with
AFP
)
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