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Business Insider

By Tara Francis Chan
When North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un stepped across the border to meet South Korea’s president last month, Moon Jae-in offered up a historic handshake, a day full of symbolism, a much-lauded agreement, and endless drinks at dinner time.
North and South Korea pledge to end all hostilities and work for nuclear-free peninsula
But he also reportedly gave Kim one more thing — a USB.
According to various local media citing the South Korean president’s residence, the Blue House, Moon gave Kim a book and USB containing an e-book and presentation on the “New Economic Map of the Korean Peninsula,” which Moon first announced last year.
Why economic cooperation could be the stumbling block at the inter-Korea summit
The map is a blueprint for how economic cooperation between the two Koreas could work and includes three “belts” — one along the east coast and Russia for energy and resources, another along the west coast for transportation and logistics, and a third across the land border for tourism.
Moon likely wants the map, which includes gas pipes and an inter-Korean train network that could connect with China, Russia, and Europe, to entice North Korea to keep to the Panmunjom Declaration signed at the DMZ.
Kim Jong-un offers to visit South Korea president Moon Jae-in’s official Seoul residence 
A Blue House official said the USB also included “information related to a power plant,” reported Korea JoongAng Daily. 
The purpose of giving Kim the flash drive appears to be an attempt to further convince Kim that North Korea needs international economic support rather than sanctions. 


“The USB makes the case to Kim — there really is another path for you,” John Delury, a North Korea expert at Yonsei University, told Axios. “[It says] we’re serious about working with you for what we think is your real ambition — to be a wealthy East Asian country.”
USBs are frequently smuggled into North Korea allowing people to watch banned content including South Korean and Hollywood films, as well as global news. Many defectors say foreign content on USBs played a part in their decision to defect.
If peace is coming, nobody told North Korean defectors
Defector groups often send USBs along with mini radios, flyers and US$1 notes in balloons across the border. But a release on Saturday in South Korea was blocked by police after North and South Korea agreed to end leaflet drops last month. 
See Also:

Lip readers try to decode Kim Jong-un and South Korean president’s conversation
A chain-smoking Kim Jong-un was seen having just one cigarette break
How some Koreans celebrated, and protested, the summit in South Korea

Read the original article at Business Insider


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How South Korea’s political crisis was fuelled by anti-China disinformation claims

North Korea

Kim Jong-un received a USB from South Korea’s president with a blueprint for connecting North Korea with the world

This picture taken on April 27, 2018 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 29, 2018 shows North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (L) and South Korea's President Moon Jae-in (R) speaking during the official dinner at the end of their historic summit at the truce village of Panmunjom. Photo:AFP/KCNA VIA KNS/STR/ - South Korea

Kim Jong-un offers to visit South Korea president Moon Jae-in’s official Seoul residence 

North Korean leader said during morning’s opening talks with South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in he would like to visit him at his official residence in Seoul

South Korean President Moon Jae-in salutes next to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a welcome ceremony at the inter-Korean summit at the truce village of Panmunjom, in this still frame taken from video, South Korea April 27, 2018. Host Broadcaster via REUTERS TV ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. SOUTH KOREA OUT.

In this photo taken on November 30, 2016, North Korean soldiers stand guard on the north side of the truce village of Panmunjom, before the South Korea and US-controlled 'Freedom House', within the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea. In the Demilitarized Zone that has divided the two Koreas for decades, the two sides come face to face -- along with the contradictory narratives that will underlie a summit at the site on April 27. South Korean guards chosen for their height and looks, and sporting aviator sunglasses stand stern and unmoving outside the blue huts of the Joint Security Area in Panmunjom, only metres from North Korean positions. / AFP PHOTO / Ed JONES / TO GO WITH SKorea-Nkorea-US-conflict-diplomacy, FOCUS by Sunghee Hwang and Sebastien Berger

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in walk together at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone Friday, April 27, 2018. Kim made history Friday by crossing over the world's most heavily armed border to greet his rival, Moon, for talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons. (Korea Summit Press Pool via AP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's entry in a guestbook is seen at the Peace House at the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, South Korea, April 27, 2018. The writing reads "A new history starts now. An age of peace, from the starting point of history." Korea Summit Press Pool/Pool via Reuters

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in cross the border line at the border village of Panmunjom in Demilitarized Zone Friday, April 27, 2018. North Korean leader Kim made history by crossing over the world's most heavily armed border to greet South Korean President Moon for talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons. (Korea Summit Press Pool via AP)

People watch a TV showing a live broadcast of the inter-Korean summit and South Korean President Moon Jae-in shaking hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, April 27, 2018. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (left) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in cross the military demarcation line at the border village of Panmunjom. Photo: AP

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The USB appears to provide a further incentive for Kim to keep the agreements made between North and South Korea at the summit
