South Korea's Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon has asked the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to play an active role in efforts to help North Korea carry out reforms and open up to the outside world.
 
The ministry said that Kim made the request on Saturday when he met with IMF chief Christine Lagarde on the sidelines of an International Monetary and Financial Committee meeting held on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
 
Kim called for the IMF's active roles, saying that this year's three inter-Korean summits and the first-ever summit between the North and the United States led to dramatic progress in reducing military tensions between the two Koreas and improving North Korea-U.S. relations.
 
Kim also made similar calls during his meeting with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, voicing his hope that the bank will play an active role in providing support for the North's development projects at an appropriate time based on the consensus of the international community.