The "trickle down" theory might be economically dubious, but there's something to it where inter-Korean dialog and cooperation are concerned. Addressing an audience of law school students and Korea experts at Columbia University, Ahn Sang-Soo, mayor of Incheon, outlined his unique efforts to use local administration to reach out to North Korea. Until recently, he noted, policies governing rapprochement with the North were initiated exclusively by the central government in Seoul. But following a visit by a DPRK delegation to Incheon in 2004, Ahn set the wheels in motion for engagement efforts initiated the level of local government. In May 2005 Ahn led a first-of-its-kind municipal delegation to Pyongyang. While there, he floated the idea of creating a new joint development zone that would stretch across the DMZ, encompassing Kaesong's new industrial facilities and Incheon's logistical base. If Kaesong's labor cost advantages were wedded to Incheon's port and airport, he argued, the combined area would have an enviable advantage in the export market. He also raised the prospect of establishing a bridge across the DMZ that could get Kaesong's goods to Incheon faster. Ahn told the audience that he would eventually like to see the joint development zone expand into a "golden peace triangle" that would draw Seoul's financial resources and educated entrepreneurs into the economic equation. Any actual development of this concept may be years away, he noted, but the fact remains that the two sides of the divided Korea did take an initial trust-building step. While in Pyongyang, Ahn also signed an agreement with his North Korean counterparts to enter a joint Incheon/Pyongyang bid for the 2014 Asian Games. Donald P. Gregg, president and chairman, The Korea Society, Roh Jeong-Ho, the then director of the Korean Legal Center, Columbia Law School, Shin Hyun-Yoon, professor of law, Yonsei University, and Seo Jung Uck, former ROK minister of science and technology, provided commentary on Mayor Ahn's address. This forum was cosponsored with the Center for Korean Legal Studies at Columbia Law School and the Center for American Legal Studies at Yonsei University's College of Law.

New Paradigm for South-North Korean Cooperation: The Incheon-Kaesong Joint Development Zone

with

Ahn Sang-Soo
Mayor, Incheon Korea

Donald P. Gregg
President and Chairman, The Korea Society

Roh Jeong-Ho
Former Director, Korean Legal Center, Columbia Law School

Shin Hyun-Yoon
Professor of Law, Yonsei University

Seo Jung Uck
Former ROK Minister of Science and Technology

Thursday, June 23, 2005