South Korea’s new president offers North economic plan in return for denuclearisation

theguardian.com:

South Korea’s new president, Yoon Suk-yeol, has offered North Korea “an audacious plan” to transform its creaking economy in return for abandoning its nuclear weapons programme.

Speaking on the first day of his presidency on Tuesday, Yoon said: “While North Korea’s nuclear weapon programmes are a threat not only to our security and that of North-east Asia, the door to dialogue will remain open so that we can peacefully resolve this threat.”

Yoon has previously vowed to take a tougher stance against Pyongyang than his predecessor, but appears to have avoided provoking the regime amid speculation that it could be preparing to conduct a nuclear test. North Korea has previously rejected incentives tied to progress on abandoning its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

“If North Korea genuinely embarks on a process to complete denuclearisation, we are prepared to work with the international community to present an audacious plan that will vastly strengthen North Korea’s economy and improve the quality of life for its people,” he told a crowd of 40,000 people attending his inauguration outside the national assembly in Seoul, according to the Yonhap news agency.

The North’s missiles and nukes were a threat to South Korean, regional and global security, he said, adding: “The door to dialogue will remain open so that we can peacefully resolve this threat.”

Yoon, a conservative who replaced the liberal former human rights lawyer Moon Jae-in, officially began his presidency at midnight on Monday with a security briefing at an underground bunker – a sign that the North’s nuclear weapons will be high on the agenda throughout his single five-year term.

Pyongyang prefaced Yoon’s inauguration, after a closely contested, rancorous campaign,