NK has economic potential
Efforts should receive positive response: observers
North Korea has great potential for economic development, if its decision to halt nuclear and missile tests can lead to further détente and persuade the international community to consider relaxing economic sanctions against the country, said Chinese observers on Sunday.
Chinese observers believe North Korea’s move comes as it prepares for historic summits with South Korea and the US, and its efforts should receive a positive response. If the peninsula is denuclearized, North Korea’s potential for development will help Pyongyang to achieve its economic goals.
The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) announced Friday it would “discontinue nuclear and intercontinental ballistic rocket tests starting April 21, 2018,” and dismantle “its northern nuclear test site to transparently guarantee the discontinuance of nuclear tests.” The WPK declared that “the work for mounting nuclear warheads on ballistic rockets has been reliably realized,” North Korea’s state news agency KCNA reported Saturday.
Zhang Huizhi, a professor at Jilin University’s Northeast Asian Studies College, highlighted North Korea’s expressed and explicit vow to
prioritize its economic agenda, saying that the world should now have more faith in Pyongyang’s sincerity to embark on a path to becoming a normal state on the world stage, rather than a country deliberately isolating itself.
KCNA reported Friday that delegates at the 3rd Plenary Meeting of the 7th Central Committee of the WPK on Friday passed a resolution that said: “We will create an international environment favorable for socialist economic construction and facilitate close contact and active dialogue with neighboring countries and the international community in order to defend peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in the world.”
“The North Korean economy achieved a positive momentum after current Kim Jong-un assumed the leadership, but this momentum has been damaged by international sanctions, including unilateral sanctions outside the UN resolutions from countries like the US,” Zhang noted. In order to achieve its economic development goals, it is a prerequisite for Pyongyang to create a favorable international environment by persuading the global community to relax or even rollback the sanctions.
North Korea has many advantages to develop its economy and attract foreign investment. Its labor force is cheap, and its geographical position and long coastline in Northeast Asia also work in its favor. But these are only advantages as long as it is stable and its political system is effective, Zhang said.
Citing the example of the existing Kaesong Industrial Complex and the Rason Special Economic Zone that already had operated inside North Korea, there is huge room for growth in economic cooperation between it and its robust neighbors, especially South Korea and China, Zhang said. He added that China, also a socialist nation with successful achievements in its own reform and opening-up, can share its experience with North Korea to help Pyongyang achieve its economic development goals.
Hard-fought progress
“This is first time North Korea has made such a clear promise and shown sincerity, so the US also needs to make a positive response, such as reducing sanctions or suspending its joint military drills with South Korea, to safeguard this hard-fought progress for peace,” Lü Chao, a research fellow at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.
At the same time, the UN Security Council should start reconsidering its sanctions against North Korea, Lü said.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang issued a statement about North Korea’s decisions on Saturday, saying that China welcomes the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) move.
“China believes that the DPRK’s decisions will help to further détente of the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and push the denuclearization of the peninsula as well as the political solution of the peninsula nuclear issue,” Lu said.
“We hope the relevant countries take concrete action and make efforts to realize sustainable peace and development in the region. China will continue to contribute to this,” Lu said.
US President Donald Trump also appeared to be pleased by the announcement from Pyongyang, tweeting on Friday that “North Korea has agreed to suspend all Nuclear Tests and close up a major test site. This is very good news for North Korea and the World,” and “Look forward to our Summit.”