A Proper Request at This Moment?

South Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon (right) meets with IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde at a G20 finance ministerial meeting held Bali, Indonesia on October 13.

The South Korean government has asked the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to play a bigger role in having North Korea accepted as a member of the international community and accelerating the opening and development of the isolated country.

The request was made by South Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon, who met with IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim during his visit to Bali, Indonesia to attend a G20 finance ministerial meeting on October 13.

“This year alone, three inter-Korean summits took place along with the one between the U.S. and the North, reducing military tension in the Korean Peninsula,” Kim said, adding, “The IMF and the World Bank can play a more important role on the premise that the international community gives it consent.”
 

Kim also met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to dissuade the U.S. from designating South Korea as a currency manipulator in its report scheduled to be released soon. “I am hoping for a favorable result although predictions are not easy,” said the deputy prime minister.

In the meantime, Kim proposed to form a council for economic cooperation with the financial ministers of four Latin American countries. He also asked the IMF and the World Bank to play a larger role for opening of North Korea.


The four Latin American countries are Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru, which are Pacific Alliance members. The countries’ financial ministers are going to discuss with Kim cooperation in the fields of information and communications technology, infrastructure, climate finance, human resource development, and economic policy and development experience sharing.
 

The four Latin American countries, which have signed FTAs with 75% of the global market, are currently accounting for 41% of the foreign investment in Latin America.

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