Gyeonggi Province Receives First UN Certification of Legitimacy for Local Government Inter-Korean Project

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hoon] The 'Gaepung Seedling Nursery Support Project,' which was suspended in 2010, is expected to resume after nine years.
This follows the UN Security Council Resolution 1718 Sanctions Committee's acceptance of Gyeonggi Province's application for sanctions exemption on materials necessary for the 'Gaepung Seedling Nursery Development Project,' marking the first case in which an inter-Korean humanitarian cooperation project led by a local government has received international legitimacy certification—a development considered highly significant.

The province announced on the 16th that it has recently received approval from the UN Resolution 1718 Sanctions Committee for sanctions exemption on 152 items of materials necessary for the 'Gaepung Seedling Nursery Development Project.'
The 'Gaepung Seedling Nursery Support Project,' pursued in accordance with the 9.13 Inter-Korean Agreement signed in 2007, is a project aimed at establishing a foundation for North Korea to independently produce seedlings by constructing a forestry greening project base capable of producing 1.5 million seedlings annually in an area of 9 hectares in the Gaepung-dong vicinity of Gaeseong, Hwanghae Bukdo Province.
The project was pursued by the province and the civic organization Our Nation Mutual Assistance Movement as an inter-Korean exchange and cooperation initiative, but was suspended in 2010.
Accordingly, the province and Our Nation Mutual Assistance Movement submitted on the 20th of last month to the UN Sanctions Committee on North Korea an exemption application for 152 items of materials necessary for resuming the 'Gaepung Seedling Nursery Development Project.'
In parallel, they participated in the 'International Conference on Humanitarian Assistance to North Korea' held in New York last month and successively visited the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Congress, and the UN Sanctions Committee on North Korea to explain the justification for the exemption approval, making multifaceted efforts.

The materials approved for exemption in this instance comprise a total of 152 items, including connected and single seedling nursery greenhouses, seedling equipment and materials, and construction equipment and tools, with a project budget of 2.275 billion won.
The province and Our Nation Mutual Assistance Movement plan to proceed with follow-up measures to ensure smooth project implementation, including consultations with North Korea regarding the Gaepung Seedling Nursery Development Project.
If the 'Gaepung Seedling Nursery Development Project' proceeds, it is expected not only to revitalize inter-Korean exchange and cooperation, which has reached an impasse, but also to reduce damage to North Korean and Gyeonggi Province border regions from natural disasters such as landslides and floods caused by forest degradation.

Lee Hwa-young, Vice Governor for Peace of Gyeonggi Province, stated, "Considering the situation on the Korean Peninsula's peace process, which has reached an impasse following the collapse of the North Korea-U.S. summit in February last year, and the increasingly tense rhetoric exchanges between North Korea and the United States, many citizens are concerned." He added, "This exemption approval marks the first case in which a local government and domestic civic organizations have jointly overcome sanctions against North Korea, opening a gateway for inter-Korean exchange and cooperation projects."