‘Recent agreement presents opportunity’
Provincial officials seek to restart engagement projects with North Korea

After four days of marathon talks, high-ranking officials from North and South Korea recently managed to defuse tensions on the peninsula, and the provincial government is working on ways to take advantage of the thawing relationship and boost inter-Korean exchanges.

The province says it will work with the Ministry of Unification to implement the five ideas it came up with to improve the relationship between the North and South. Those five proposals were announced on December 4th, 2014.

The five are shipping mandarin oranges to Pyongyang, opening a Jeju-North Korea cruise ship route, allowing North Koreans to visit Halla Mountain and South Koreans to tour (백두) Baekdu Mountain, conducting joint ecological and environmental research and conservation programs for each of the country’s highest peaks, and getting North Korea to send representatives to the Jeju Forum.

As a first step, the provincial government is trying to restart long-suspended talks with the North. The Ministry of Unification gave the provincial government approval to make contact, and it was able to last year through a national reconciliation council. It invited North Korean officials to this year’s Jeju Forum, but they didn’t attend.

"제주도 제안 남북 교류사업 활성화 기대"

남북한 고위급 협상이 극적으로 타결되면서 제주도 역시 남북 교류의 불씨를 살리기 위해 다각적인 노력을 기울이고 있습니다.

제주도는 지난해 12월 4일 발표한 남북 협력 5대 제안이 본격적으로 활성화되기를 기대하며 통일부 등과 협의해 구체적인 추진 방안을 마련하겠다고 밝혔습니다

제주도가 제안한 5대 제안은 감귤 북한 보내기, 제주와 북한을 잇는 크루즈 관광라인 개설 '한라에서 백두까지' 남북한 교차관광 한라산 백두산 생태·환경보존 공동협력사업 그리고 제주포럼에 북측 대표단 참석 등 입니다.

이에따라 지난해 제주포럼 때 북측 인사를 초청하기 위해 통일부 승인을 받아 민족화해범국민협의회를 거쳐 북측 인사와 접촉했던 경험을 살려 이번 타결을 계기로 소강상태에 있는 북측과의 대화를 재개하는 방안을 추진하고 있습니다.