South Korea, China Agree: North Korea Should Get Economic Aid for Denuclearization

South Korea wants to give North security guarantees, economic aid

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Chinese PM Li Keqiang have agreed that they want to see a guarantee of economic aid for North Korea if the nation agrees to denuclearize. The two leaders also discussed a possible railway connection going through North Korea.

Chinese PM Li and South Korean President Moon

The US has been hesitant to make any specific pledges to North Korea on what would happen in return for denuclearization. Clearly, economic assistance is a top priority, as North Korea has indicated in recent comments that once peace is achieved their focus will be on improving their struggling economy.

Railroads connecting them to China and South Korea would be a good start, certainly. South Korean officials say they also want to offer North Korea some sort of security guarantees.

Security assurances are also a top priority for North Korea, as they have said the only reason for their nuclear arsenal is to deter a US attack. With guarantees that such an attack is not coming, they’d have every reason to scrap the program.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.