Inaugurated As South Korean President, Yoon Suk-yeol Offers Aid To North Korea: Conditions For Ending Nuclear Program

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol is signing. (Wikimedia Commons/Republic of Korea)

JAKARTA - South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has asked North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for massive economic aid.

At his swearing-in on Tuesday, President Yoon described Pyongyang's missiles as a threat to regional and global security.

"If North Korea truly begins the process of completing denuclearization, we are ready to work with the international community to present a bold plan that will greatly strengthen North Korea's economy, improving the quality of life of its people," he said.

It is known, Pyongyang has set a new record this year, carrying out 15 weapons tests since last January, including two launches last week.

President Yoon, 61, who began working in an underground bunker with a security briefing on North Korea, takes office at a time of high tension on the peninsula.

The former prosecutor, who won elections by a narrow margin in March, said in his inaugural address he would consider sending a transformative level of economic aid to North Korea, but only if Pyongyang gave up its nuclear weapons first.

Yoon's predecessor Moon Jae-in has pursued a policy of engagement with Pyongyang, brokering a summit between Kim Jong-un and then US president Donald Trump. But talks broke down in 2019 and diplomacy has stalled since.

"While North Korea's nuclear weapons program poses a threat not only to our security and to Northeast Asia, the door to dialogue will remain open so that we can resolve this threat peacefully," said President Yoon.

Still, "bold" offers of help were useless, analysts said. North Korea, which invests most of its GDP in UN-sanctioned weapons programs, has long insisted it will not trade nukes for aid.

"Since 2009, North Korea has said it will not give up its nukes for economic incentives," said Park Won-gon, a professor at Ewha University. "Yoon's comments will only trigger Pyongyang, which will see it as an attack."

The official inauguration ceremony for Mr Yoon was staged outside the Seoul National Assembly, featuring an army marching band, soldiers in ceremonial attire and a salvo of gunfire in tribute 21 times, to an audience of about 40,000 people.