Vice Unification Minister Suh Ho says South Korea has left room for North Korea’s participation in all of the projects being pursued in the Demilitarized Zone(DMZ) or heavily-armed border separating the two sides. 

Suh made the remarks in a speech at a Seoul forum on Friday, a day ahead of the second anniversary of the historic inter-Korean summit held in Pyongyang in 2018.  

He said the true value of the DMZ will shine brighter when the North, which occupies one half of it, will participate in related projects. 

The vice minister said the two Koreas should cooperate to show the world how a virtuous cycle of peace and the economy works. 

Citing the COVID-19 pandemic and global climate change, the South Korean official said the South-North boundary pales before new challenges faced by humanity and proposed potential joint projects in the DMZ, including setting up a joint disaster response system and smart agriculture.