President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un raise their hands together on top of Mt. Paektu on the last leg of his trip to North Korea on Sept. 20. (Photo: Pyongyang Press Corps Pool)

Business leaders, including Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jay-yong, SK Group Chairman Chey Tai-won, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Hyundai Motor Vice Chairman Kim Yong-hwan, who accompanied President Moon Jae-in on a trip to Pyongyang, are aboard the Koran Air Force One aircraft on Sept. 18.

The Pyongyang Joint Declaration signed by President Moon Jan-in and NK leader Kim Jong-un during their 3rd summit on Sept. 19 contained more detailed agreements on inter-Korean economic cooperation than the Panmunjom Declaration, the outcomes of their 1st summit.

According to the Pyongyang Joint Declaration, issued following the inter-Korean summit held in NK from Sept. 18 to 20, the two Koreas agreed to expand the cessation of military hostilities in regions of confrontation such as the DMZ to the substantial removal of the danger of war across the entire Korean Peninsula and a fundamental resolution of the hostile relations; to explore substantial measures to further advance exchanges and cooperation based on the spirit of mutual benefit and shared prosperity, and to develop the nation’s economy in a balanced manner; to strengthen humanitarian cooperation to fundamentally resolve the issue of separated families; to actively promote exchanges and cooperation in various fields so as to rejuvenate the sense of reconciliation and unity and to demonstrate the spirit of the Korean nation both internally and externally.

It said the two sides shared the view that the Korean Peninsula must be turned into a land of peace free from nuclear weapons and nuclear threats, and that substantial progress toward this end must be made in a prompt manner. Chairman Kim Jong-un agreed to visit Seoul at an early date at the invitation of President Moon, it said.

As the latest inter-Korean declaration has recognized limitations of the current situation, the lifting of economic sanctions against North Korea imposed by the United Nations and the United States is a precondition for setting in motion inter-Korean cooperation projects in an earnest fashion.

Many pundits share the view that the South Korean government and the private sector need to join forces in making preparations for the implementation of inter-Korean economic cooperation projects that would benefit both South and North Korea in the event of the lifting of the economic sanctions, which is still also in the balance with the pending NK’s denuclearization.

Among the agreements on inter-Korean economic cooperation contained in the latest declaration are railway and road connection, discussions on the establishment of a joint free economic zone in the West Sea and a joint tourism zone in the East Sea following the normalization of the Gaesong Inter-Korean Industrial Complex and tour to Mt. Geumgang, environment cooperation (in the forest sector) and health/medical care cooperation.

Each agreement has such preconditions as ground-breaking ceremonies for railway and road connection in 2018 and the pending setting of conditions for the normalization of the Gaesong Inter-Korean Industrial Complex and tour to Mt. Geumgang.
Business leaders who accompanied President Moon on the visit to NK returned home on Sept. 20 from their two-night, three-day stay in NK. Most of them expressed expectations over what they saw during their stay in North Korea. They shared their experiences in NK with senior company officials and discussed future business possibilities but they appeared to be taking a “cautious” attitude with study levels, with the pending lifting of economic sanctions against NK.

Samsung Group’s move on inter-Korean economic cooperation was unknown. Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jay-yong shared the outcomes of his visit to NK, it was learned. The group appeared to brace for full-fledged implementation of inter-Korean economic cooperation projects in a mid- and long-term perspective.

POSCO is moving fast. POSCO Chairman Choi Jeong-woo presided over an executives’ meeting and expressed optimist views. Chairman Choi was quoted as saying that inter-Korean economic cooperation will bring great opportunities to not only POSCO but also the steel industry and POSCO subsidiaries would find good business opportunities.

A task force on inter-Korean economic cooperation that has been already operating is closely monitoring relations among South Korea, NK and the United States and make preparations on ways of materializing inter-Korean economic cooperation projects if the two Koreas resume economic cooperation, he added.