Pres. Kim Urges "No Mistakes with the NK Projects"

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Pres. Kim Urges "No Mistakes with the NK Projects"

President Kim Dae Jung urged at the State Council (cabinet meeting) on November 3, 'The Ministry of Unification should never make any mistakes in dealing with the North Korean projects which will be mainly carried out by Hyundai Group.'
President Kim stressed, 'Even if the civil sector(Hyundai) makes a mistake, the ultimate responsibility lies with the government. In the relationship with North Korea, avoiding even one mistake is more important than achieving five successes.'
Kim said, 'The economic cooperation between the South and North has just begun, and it is rare and very important that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il himself engaged in this cooperation. But this should be carefully carried out without any illusions or too many expectations to promote both North and South Korean interests.' He also pointed out that the press has somewhat exaggerated the results of Chung Ju Yung's recent visit to North Korea.
He added, 'It is still unclear whether the proposed oil production in North Korea is economically viable or not, so I gave some advice to Mr. Chung yesterday to take good care.' A government source said that the government would not allow the oil development project because of slim possibilities of commercial sucess.
President Kim's remarks on the relationship with North Korea could reflect that he would somewhat restrain Hyundai's hasty drive to North Korean projects which could do harm to the general South-North relationship in the long run.
Regarding this matter, the Unification Minister Kang In Duk answerd, 'The government will push forward South-North cooperation consistently with the principle of 'separation of politics from economics'.'
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Uification is now scrutinizing the North Korean related documents including contracts for 9 projects and letters of intent.
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