Future Prospects and Challenges of Northeast Asian Railway Community

Abstract

2017년 북한의 제6차 핵실험을 끝으로 대결국면이 종결되었고 북한의 평창올림픽 참가와 특사외교는 남북화해와 대화로 전환되는 계기가 되었다. 4.27 판문점 선언과 6.12 북미회담을 통해 북핵위기는 해결국면으로 전환되고 있고 한반도는 북한의 비핵화발표와 북미실무회담, 종전선언 그리고 한반도 평화체재 구축으로 이행하고 있는 것으로 보인다. 북한은 비핵화를 통해 개혁개방을 표명하였고 베트남식 개방정책에 깊은 관심을 가지고 있는 것으로 사료된다. 문재인 대통령이 주창한 한반도 신경제지도와 신북방정책은 점차 그 실현가능성이 높아지고 있고 남․북․러, 남․북․중 간의 협력 사업에 대한 기대감도 높아지고 있다. 문재인 정부의 신북방정책은 향후 대북관계의 진전과 더불어 동북아 평화체재구축과 단일시장 건설에 기여할 것임에 틀림없어 보인다.The confrontation between North and South Korea ended with North Korea’s sixth nuclear test in 2017 as a last move. North Korea’s participation in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and diplomacy involving special envoys became the opportunity to switch North- South relations to the mode of reconciliation and conversations. This year, North Korea’s nuclear arms crisis is tipping the balance toward a resolution through the Panmunjeom Declaration on April 27 and the North Korea-U.S. talks on June 12, and the Korean Peninsula appears to be fulfilling its agreements through North Korea’s announcement of denuclearization, working-level talks with the US, declaration of the end of war, and cooperation to establish a peace regime in the peninsula. North Korea professed its willingness to reform and open the country through denuclearization and appears to be deeply interested in the Vietnamese open-door policy. The feasibility of the New Economic Map of the Korean Peninsula and the New Nordpolitik, which President Moon Jae-In has advocated, is gradually increasing. Moreover, much anticipation is building for cooperative projects between South Korea, North Korea, and Russia as well as South Korea, North Korea, and China. Accordingly, the Moon Jae-In government’s New Nordpolitik will certainly contribute to the establishment of a peace regime and the creation of a single market in North Korea along with the future improvement of North-South relations.