South Korea's new economic policies include proposals for inter-Korea projects that have been turned down by the North. Seoul's cluster of "New Deal" policies are not new, Pyongyang's state media said Wednesday. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI |
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Sept. 23 (UPI) -- North Korean state media condemned the South's government for proposing economic policies that promote environmental sustainability and improved ties with Pyongyang.
An article published with North Korean propaganda service Arirang Meari stated South Korean President Moon Jae-in's "Korean New Deal" is no different from the Green Fund and Unification Fund proposals of previous Seoul administrations. Those policies were proposed during the terms of former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, according to South Korean news service NK Economy.
"The Korean New Deal advertisement of the South Korean authorities are causing a commotion," the North Korean article read. "This policy, which includes the Digital New Deal, Green New Deal and the Human New Deal, is costing [$98 billion] to implement, with claims they will create 1.9 million jobs by 2025."
The article, issued in the name of an ethnic Korean in China, according to NK Economy, said the South Korean claims of innovation are untrue.
"Aren't these proposals all the things you've heard before, seen before, are fed up with, and have failed?" the article read.
Arirang Meari claimed the South Korean New Deal promotes creating more jobs in garbage collection or in industries responding to climate change. The article also said the name of the policy is a source of "irritation."
"Why call it the New Deal in the American style?" North Korean state media said. North Korea has previously dismissed the South as a lackey of the United States.
North Korean condemnation of the South's policies come a day after Moon said in his virtual address to the 75th United Nations General Assembly that Seoul's Digital New Deal and Green New Deal "mark a complete transformation of the Korean economy and promises to render our society less unequal and more inclusive."
The policies were mentioned in Seoul on Wednesday.
South Korean Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Seoul is pursuing a project that will standardize prepayments for taxi rides as part of the Digital New Deal. The platform will use artificial intelligence, Newsis reported.
