산업통상부

[B] 訪美 정세균 산자, 미 블룸버그통신과 현지 인터뷰서 밝혀[/B]
“개성공단은 한반도 평화의 열쇠이며, 현재 7천명이 넘는 개성공단 근로자 수는 향후 30만명까지 늘어나, 그 가족을 포함한 약 100만명의 북한 주민이 혜택을 볼 수 있을 것이다.”
미국을 방문중인 정세균 산업자원부장관은 28일(현지시간) 미 블룸버그통신과의 인터뷰에서 이같이 밝히고 “개성공단에 대해 충분한 이해를 가지고 있지 못한 미국을 설득시키고자 노력할 것”이라고 말했다.
정 장관은 또 “한국은 개성공단을 통해 북한이 6자회담에 참여하고, 핵무기에 대한 야심을 포기하도록 만들 수 있을 것”이라면서 “북한이 압력과 고립보다는 대화를 통해 가장 효율적으로 변화될 수 있다는 믿음을 가지고 있다”고 밝혔다.
한편, 블룸버그는 이 기사에서 “미국의 대한 수출을 최소한 2/3정도 증가시키고 미국내 한국산 제품의 판매를 20% 늘릴 수 있는 가능성 때문에 개성공단을 둘러싼 의견차 해소는 한미 FTA 협상에 중요하다”고 평가했다.
다음은 정세균 장관과의 인터뷰 내용을 담은 블룸버그 통신(6.28일자) 기사 전문이다.
South Korea Says Industrial Zone Key to Peace with North Korea 2006-06-28 18:35 (New York) By Todd Zeranski and Mark Drajem
June 28 (Bloomberg) -- South Korea's commerce minister said he will try to persuade the U.S. that the industrial zones his nation has near Gaeseong, North Korea, are crucial to peace on the peninsula. ``Gaeseong complex will enable us to make North Korea participate in the six-party talks and give up their nuclear ambitions,'' Sye-Kyun Chung said through a translator during an interview today in New York. The U.S., South Korea, China, Japan and Russia have been trying to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear arms program. The most recent negotiations toward ensuring a nuclear- free Korean peninsula ended in November without agreement. The U.S. and South Korea this month began negotiations for a $72 billion trade accord, which is being complicated by South Korea's involvement in the 25-acre Gaeseong manufacturing park. Chung defended the project, saying products made there will create as many as 1 million capitalists in North Korea, a communist nation long isolated from the rest of the world. ``South Korea has the belief North Korea can be changed most effectively through dialogue rather than pressure and isolation,'' Chung said. South Korea began financing the Gaeseong manufacturing complex in 2002 as a way to reestablish economic ties with North Korea. Trucks from South Korea cross the demilitarized buffer zone into North Korea every day, carrying raw materials to the Gaeseong complex and carting off finished products. The U.S. has an economic embargo against North Korea and in 2002 branded the nation as part of an ``axis of evil'' in the world. The Bush administration says any goods made in the industrial zone won't qualify for the special treatment South Korean products would have under a free trade agreement. ``The U.S. does not have sufficient understanding of Gaeseong, but I'm sure through talks, Korea will make more effort to explain the Gaeseong matter,'' Chung said.
Expanding Opportunities The industrial zone now has more than 7,000 workers and is expected to grow to as many as 300,000, Chung said. Including workers' family members, about 1 million North Koreans will benefit from Gaeseong, Chung said. Resolving differences over Gaeseong is important to the U.S-South Korean trade talks, which would lower tariffs and other trade barriers between the two nations. At stake is the potential to boost U.S. exports to South Korea by at least two- thirds and South Korean sales in the U.S. by 20 percent, according to a U.S. government study. The U.S. shipped $27.7 billion in goods to South Korea last year, and imported $43.8 billion of goods in return. A free trade agreement may boost U.S. exports there by $19 billion and add $20 billion to the U.S. economy, U.S. International Trade Commission data show. South Korea could see a $10 billion jump in its exports to the U.S. South Korea is the world's 10th largest economy with gross domestic product last year of $801 billion. The International Monetary Fund estimates gross domestic product will increase 5.5 percent this year and 4.5 percent in 2007.
<산업자원부 홍보기획팀장 이강윤 epress@mocie.go.kr>