DATE=1/21/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=NORTH KOREA / WORLD BANK (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-258278
BYLINE=HYUN-SUNG KHANG
DATELINE=SEOUL
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: South Korea says it will support any move
by North Korea to join world economic
organizations. Hyun-Sung Khang reports from
Seoul, a report by the South's Unification
Ministry also says the reclusive government in
the North intends to improve relations with the
outside world in the coming year.
TEXT: Past attempts by North Korea to join
international economic groups, such as the World
Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the
Asian Development Bank, have always been stymied
by its reluctance to open its economy to outside
scrutiny.
A report by the South Korean Unification Ministry
says Pyongyang may now try and accommodate any
preconditions, in an attempt to gain access to
development funds. It adds that Seoul would
support any such efforts by the North to seek
membership in international economic
organizations.
The North's economy has contracted continuously
over the last decade, and in recent years it has
not officially published its economic figures.
The South Korean report says the country's
economy appears to have turned around in 1999,
growing a little for the first time in nine
years.
The report also suggests that in an attempt to
strengthen its economic situation, Pyongyang is
expected to try and improve relations with
Washington and Tokyo.
The United States and North Korea are due to
reopen talks this weekend in Germany on reducing
tensions between the two nations.
Last year, Washington partly eased trade and
other economic sanctions against the North in
return for a suspension of its missile program.
Japan has also agreed to resume normalization
talks with North Korea early this year. The
United States and Japan are the largest potential
sources of development funds for the North.
This public support by Seoul is in line with the
South Korean president's so-called "Sunshine
policy" of engagement with Pyongyang: an attempt
to draw out the reclusive North with greater
economic and political contacts. And it comes
less than a day after the South Korea President
said he would formally propose a summit with the
rival North, if his government party wins the
forthcoming parliamentary elections. (Signed)
NEB/HSK/FC/WTW
21-Jan-2000 05:35 AM EDT (21-Jan-2000 1035 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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