South Korea spends nearly $1 billion on inter-Korean exchanges
Seoul increases budget for exchanges between South Korea and North Korea amid improving relations.
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| Trucks carrying food aid from South Korea to North Korea in 2012. Photo: AP |
The South Korean government has increased its inter-Korean cooperation fund by 14.3 percent from 964 billion won (about $872 million) to 1.1 trillion won (995 million USD),Korea Timestoday news
"The ministry's budget plan for 2019 is focused on implementing the Panmunjeom Declaration," a South Korean Unification Ministry official said, referring to the agreement reached by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during an inter-Korean summit in April.
The money will be used to pay for the completion of the declaration, such as organizing reunions for families separated during the Korean War and connecting and modernizing rail and road systems.
Projects that could potentially violate North Korea sanctions would only proceed when circumstances warranted, the official added.However, the budget for food subsidies for North Korea has been reduced because the ministry said the money was hardly used.
South Korea's budget adjustment shows that relations between Seoul and Pyongyang have improved significantly following the inter-Korean summit in April and the US-North Korea summit in June. However, as North Korea has not made significant progress in the denuclearization process, sanctions against the country have not been lifted.
