남북경협의 활성화를 위한 개성공단의 역할

The Role of Gaesung lndustrial Complex for the Strength of Economic Cooperation between South and North Korea

Economic cooperation between South and North Koreas is essential for peace and prosperity of the Korean people, and is also an essential step for the Unification of the Korean peninsula. A unification without such preparation, a unification with South and North Koreas still showing significant gap between their respective economies, would ask for a huge amount of money after the actual unification in order to reduce the economic differentials among regions and among social classes. And such unification process would most certainly lead to an economic crisis. So these problems should be addressed prior to the commencement of the unification process. The gap between both Koreas’ economic size should be reduced. The earning differentials problem should be remedied, so that clashes between social classes should not evolve into social chasms, and local differentials problem should not deteriorate further. The expenditure for the task of unification should be reduced beforehand. The roles that the Gaeseong Industrial Complex could play as part of the economic cooperation program, are as follow: First, the Gaeseong Industrial complex could serve as an experiment which would allow the North Korean economy to experience and learn about the market economy of the Capitalist system. By witnessing the activities inside the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, the North Korean public would come to learn that by enjoying equal opportunity and obtaining profits through one's own efforts, they could actually accumulate wealth. Second, people would have the opportunity to know each other, and trust each other by working in the same offices at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex. Workers from both South and North Koreas would be able to work with each other, and spend significant amount of time together, and that would be immensely helpful in eliminating any distrust among them. Third, the Gaeseong Industrial Complex would represent a broader possibility of creating a prospering community, by introducing to the world a community in which South Korea provides North Korea with technology and experience of industrialization in order to reduce the gap between the two Koreas and to establish a peaceful and prospering Korean community. And such introduction would be made possible by informing the world that such community could be achieved by investing in North Korea, and having exchanges with North Korea. Fourth, the Gaeseong Industrial Complex would encourage the North Korean public to experience the outer world, and have a positive attitude toward the concept of opening the North Korean society to the international community. Living for the past decades in a pretty much closed up society, they will be provided with the opportunity to taste a new world dynamics and develop a new point of view, and even a new value system which will serve them as a power to move them forward. Fifth, the North Korean public will be able to either directly or indirectly experience the Western world through the Gaeseong Industrial Complex which is essentially a Free economy zone, and have a look at the new style of life. Sixth, the North Korean public will come to realize the necessity of establishing an economic community between South and North Koreas, and be provided with the motive to enforce such economic cooperation. They will also learn more, and feel more of the moral imperative of establishing an ultimate Korean community, and securing the prosperity of the Korean people.