South Korean ports deal with North ‘could be step towards broader cooperation’ involving China
- Incheon and Nampo at heart of commercial and passenger sea traffic proposal as UN dials down sanctions on Pyongyang to encourage trade ties between Koreas
South Korean plans for a new ferry and cruise facility at the port city of Incheon will boost commercial and passenger sea traffic between the Koreas and, eventually, China, a leading South Korean state entrepreneur said.
Hong Kyung-sun, a vice-president of the Incheon Port Authority [IPA], told the South China Morning Post that his organisation was looking to connect Incheon with the North Korean port city of Nampo.
Hong was speaking after the United Nations Security Council approved a plan to assess the viability of linking rail services between the two nations, exempting the study from sanctions against Pyongyang.
At three inter-Korean summits this year, South Korean President Moon Jae-in offered Seoul’s help to upgrade the North’s railway network and tie it to the South’s.
Re-connecting the sea routes might be the next phase of the inter-Korean cooperation, according to Hong.
“The port authority has created a task force to study inter-Korean [marine] cooperation in preparation for a joint sea route assessment … so that we can immediately [engage with North Korea] once sanctions are lifted,” said Hong, a former aide to various congress members from Moon’s ruling Democratic Party of Korea.