Unified Korea would be massive market: Yoon

SINGAPORE -- President Yoon Suk Yeol said Wednesday that a unified Korean Peninsula that is free and at peace would unlock massive economic opportunities in the Indo-Pacific region.

"A unified Korean Peninsula that is free and open will also create a strong impetus for economic development and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific," Yoon said at the 47th Singapore Lecture, organized by the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute that was formerly known as the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

"An open Korean Peninsula will serve as a link connecting the Pacific, the Korean Peninsula and the Eurasian continent, unlocking a vast market," Yoon told the 450-strong audience, adding he expects the soaring demand for investment and cooperation across the energy, logistics, transportation, infrastructure and tourism sectors.

South Korea has effectively functioned as an island, as North Korea blocks all links by roads or rail to the rest of the Eurasian continent.

Yoon was repeating his concept of a unified Korea on the foundation of a free and democratic system safeguarding individual freedom, as outlined in the "Unification Doctrine" unveiled on Aug. 15. He described such a unified peninsula as "a blessing that brings long-sought freedom to the 26 million North Korean people suffering from poverty and tyranny."

South Korea is technically at war with North Korea following a cease-fire that ended the hostilities of the 1950-53 Korean war. Since then, the Kim family has run what is technically a Communist regime in North Korea through family successions and arming the country with nuclear weapons.

Recently, the incumbent leader Kim Jong-un has pushed for military exchanges with Russia, currently at war with Ukraine for more than two years. Seoul sees that North Korea not only supplied weapons or ammunition to Russia but also deployed its troops to war-torn Ukraine to fight on the Russian side.

A free and peaceful unified Korea could dramatically advance peace throughout the Indo-Pacific and beyond, the South Korean leader said.

"The absence of North Korea’s nuclear threats would lead to a stronger international non-proliferation regime," Yoon said. "The realization of a free and unified Korean Peninsula would also help substantially reduce the demand for illicit trafficking in the region’s waters, and ensure a more secure and freer order of navigation."

Yoon also unveiled plans during the lecture to "proactively support" development cooperation projects that promote democracy in Indo-Pacific countries.

Yoon was the third South Korean leader to have been invited to the podium, after former liberal presidents Kim Dae-jung and Moon Jae-in.

In his lecture, Yoon pledged to boost the international community's commitment to realizing a unified Korean Peninsula that is free and open, through regular hosting of the International Korean Peninsula Forum, after its inaugural event in September.

He also unveiled plans to host the inaugural Indo-Pacific High-Level Forum in December in a follow-up of its Indo-Pacific strategy blueprint.

Korea Herald correspondent