South Korea's minister in charge of inter-Korean affairs said the government could consider resuming cross-border projects such as the Mount Geumgang tours and the Gaeseong industrial park before full-scale sanctions relief to facilitate the denuclearization process.

During an interview with Yonhap News Agency and six other global news agencies in Seoul on Wednesday, a reporter asked Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul whether the inter-Korean economic projects could restart before Pyongyang's complete denuclearization.

Kim said the two projects could resume following sanctions relief or be considered in the early stages of sanctions relief as an exceptional step to faciliate denuclearization.

The remarks come after President Moon Jae-in, in a written interview with the seven news agencies, said he suggested that U.S. President Donald Trump fully utilize inter-Korean economic cooperation as corresponding measures to induce the North's denuclearization.

Highlighting Seoul's efforts to meet the conditions to restart the projects, the minister said the most important condition would be progress in negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang.

On the dismantlement of the North's Yongbyon nuclear facility, Kim said it would carry significant meaning in that it involves the destruction of not just plutonium-producing facilities but also some uranium enrichment facilities.

Kim said the most critical task in preparations for a third U.S.-North Korea summit would be figuring out a way to structure a "Yongbyon-plus alpha deal." Such a deal would go beyond dismantling the Yongbyon nuclear facility to address other alleged nuclear facilities as well.

[Photo : YONHAP News]