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Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential candidate of the main opposition People Power Party (Yonhap) |
Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol pledges to create a standing dialogue channel between the two Koreas and the United States by establishing a liaison office either in the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom or in Washington if elected president.
The liaison office idea was one of Yoon's top 10 campaign pledges that the main opposition People Power Party candidate put together to submit to the National Election Commission ahead of the March 9 presidential election, according to a draft of the pledges seen by Yonhap News Agency on Sunday.
Yoon also pledges to realize sustainable peace and security on the Korean Peninsula through a "complete and verifiable denuclearization" and to conclude a peace treaty with North Korea if denuclearization is realized, according to the draft.
Yoon plans to keep sanctions on North Korea in place until North Korea's complete denuclearization but holds out the prospect of economic assistance to the North even before denuclearization if Pyongyang takes substantial denuclearization measures.
Other key pledges include relocating the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.
Yoon has said the current presidential complex is located and designed in a secluded way that makes the president out of touch from the public and that he would relocate the top office to the government complex in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul.
According to the draft pledges, Yoon plans to complete the relocation before the end of the year.
Economic pledges include carrying out an emergency relief program to provide financial aid and other assistance to small businesses and self-employed hit hard by the pandemic, and providing more than 2.5 million units of housing, including up to 2 million units in the greater Seoul area. (Yonhap)
