President Moon Jae-in talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the border truce village of Panmunjeom during their summit on April 27, 2018. / Korea Times file

'Seoul, Washington shared info on Moon's economic project proposal for North Korea'

By Kang Seung-woo

Allegations that the government planned to assist North Korea build a nuclear power plant are expected to raise concerns with the new U.S. administration over inter-Korean projects sought by South Korea, according to diplomatic observers, Tuesday, although they said they do not buy into the claims.

President Moon Jae-in faces allegations that he offered to build the plant in North Korea as part of cross-border reconciliation projects during his April 2018 summit with the North's leader Kim Jong-un. The opposition parties are denouncing the alleged offer as an "act benefitting the enemy."

The government flatly denies the claims, with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy unveiling an internal document to reaffirm that it had merely reviewed some ideas for possible inter-Korean economic cooperation projects after the summit. The government said Moon only offered economic projects the two Koreas could cooperate on if denuclearization talks progressed.

The U.S. government has yet to comment on the allegations. But President Joe Biden and his team could be concerned about the Moon administration's push to engage the North through means Washington may find unpalatable.

"In the past the U.S. has put energy assistance for North Korea on the table to try to convince Pyongyang to move ahead with denuclearization. But I think that the Biden administration will want to consult more closely with South Korea than the Donald Trump administration ever did regarding potential inter-Korean economic cooperation," Ramon Pacheco Pardo, an associate professor of international relations at King's College London, told The Korea Times.

"Thus, the South Korean government will have to openly discuss with the Biden administration this and other potential projects, even if they are only at the planning stage."

If the nuclear power plant proposal was part of an extensive list of economic and infrastructure projects that the Moon administration considered offering Pyongyang, Bruce Klingner, a former CIA analyst and senior researcher at the Heritage Foundation, said the proposals would have violated international sanctions had they been implemented.

"The U.S. government became so concerned with Seoul's efforts that it directly contacted South Korean government agencies, banks, and businesses to remind them of existing laws," Klingner told The Korea Times.

In response to the allegations, Foreign Minister nominee Chung Eui-yong said, Tuesday, there were no discussions about building a nuclear power plant during inter-Korean talks.