The government has proposed to North Korea seven new projects to promote economic growth, such as energy cooperation and tours to the North's Mount Baekdu.

A recent Unification Ministry report has detailed the government's comprehensive plan for economic cooperation recently proposed to the North's leader, Kim Jong-il.

The seven projects also include railroad modernization, forestation, development of the North's western port of Nampo, an inter-Korean agricultural complex and the joint use of rivers that flow southward across the inter-Korean border.

During his recent talks with Unification Minister Chung Dong-young in Pyongyang, Kim received such offers separately from Seoul's "important proposal" to induce the North's return to the six-way talks.

Accordingly, the two sets of proposals are believed separate but the ministry report has clarified that the seven projects are part of the comprehensive plan.

A ministry official said the plan could help the North open the door to the outside world and implement reform once the nuclear issue is resolved.