From the Publisher
This month, The Korea Post covers in its main feature Iran’s abandonment of nuclear weapons development in favor of economic development programs in cooperation with all the countries of the world as well as with the Republic of Korea (ROK) in the south.
This welcome development comes as a great encouragement to the people in the ROK as it could exert a favorable influence on the North Korean regime to give up its nuclear warms development and try to follow suit of Iran.
Many people in Seoul are hoping that Chairman Kim Jong-un of North Korea will learn from Iran, give up his nukes and join the rest of the world where the leaders are busy trying to provide their people with a better living instead of mobilizing them for a genocidal war.
Iran, especially her leadership, fully deserves a high praise for the brave decision they have made for the benefit of their people as well as for the welfare of the entire world.
In Korea, however, the situation is becoming worse nowadays posing a sharp contrast with Iran.
North Korea carried out its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6, 2016 and shot up its long-range missile on the following day. This development came as a sheer surprise and discouragement to the ROK who had been hoping to improve its relations with the North for mutual benefit.
In response to the repeated provocations by the North, President Park Geun-hye withdrew all the South Korean companies from the Inter-Korean Industrial Park in Kaesong (Gaeseong) just north of the Demilitarized Zone and ceased almost all the activities of benefit to North Korea, which, according to reports, even included humanitarian give-outs.
At this juncture, no one can predict what would happen next on the Korean peninsula.
Against this backdrop, what has been happening in Iran merits keen attention for both the ROK and the North.
If the North gives up its nuclear weapons development, she can be rewarded with a massive support and assistance from the South for the improvement of the livelihood of the people.
According to the comparison between the ROK and NK published by the Statistics Korea (a government agency) in 2015, the GNI of South Korea (1,441 trillion 100 billion Won) was 42.6 times that of North Korea (33 trillion 844 billion Won).
If the North would give up its nukes and missiles in favor of peaceful co-existence with the South there would be a lot of good things the people in the South could do for the benefit of their North Korean brothers.
What North Korea should do is learn from Iran and follow her suit.