By Park Ji-won



The National Assembly is seeking to establish a special committee to speed up inter-Korean economic exchanges, party officials said Wednesday.



This is part of a measure to follow up on the April 27 Panmunjeom Declaration, signed between the leaders of the two Koreas, and to prepare for greater demand for inter-Korean economic cooperation expected after the North Korea-U.S. summit on June 12.



According to ruling party officials, the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) will form a special National Assembly committee for inter-Korean economic exchanges, centered on strengthening legal grounds to boost economic ties with the North.



"The special committee will go a step further than past special committees about inter-Korean summits to organize bills and budgets facing the upcoming inter-Korean exchanges," a key official of the DPK was quoted as saying.



The DPK's floor leader Hong Young-pyo pledged last week to quickly create a special Assembly committee to support the businesses of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex (GIC) in the North, during a meeting with members of a taskforce for firms that had been active in the GIC. The official added opposition parties also agreed on forming the committee, saying "parties will discuss further details later."



The special committee will be briefed by related government departments such as the Ministry of Unification, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. So far, the infrastructure ministry hasn't taken part in inter-Korean business-related discussions.



Also, the committee's work will be expanded to include deliberation.



The details about forming the special committee will be discussed in the upcoming Assembly session which starts in July.



President Moon Jae-in has been suggesting the Assembly ratify the Panmunjeom Declaration to seek the development of inter-Korean relations so the agreement can be pursued regardless of possible changes to the political landscape.



In a plenary session last month, parties failed to pass the support bill of the Panmunjeom Agreement, finding it difficult to narrow the differences in wording on the North's denuclearization. The main opposition party opposed the passage saying the abolition of the North's nuclear armament should be included in the bill while the ruling DPK insisted the phrase used in the declaration is adequate.



The GIC was built in Gaeseong in 2000 following the June 15 Declaration, the first-ever inter Korean summit, and became a symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation.



Several special committees on the development of inter-Korean relations have been installed at the National Assembly in the past, but they rarely passed bills as they had no authority of deliberation to submit bills to the Assembly for a vote.

