He proposed to establish a special resource industrial complex in the North’s coal field, areas near the Yellow Sea and in Tanchon centering on the five minerals. Tanchon is thought to have the world’s second-largest magnesite reserves, following China, which dominates the global market with an 80 percent share.

Despite these hopes, hurdles lie ahead before meaningful inter-Korean mineral cooperation can take place. UN sanctions prohibit all member nations from trading with North Korea and the South has said it is willing to comply with the international rules.

The UN sanctions also ban international organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank from providing any financial support to the North.

“The precondition of mineral development in the North is the normalization of the relationship between the North and the US. Without the settlement of the North’s nuclear programs, there will be no inter-Korean economic cooperation,” said Kim Chang-do, a senior researcher at the Posco Research Institute, at the forum.

“Establishing diplomatic ties between the US and the North will be a milestone for inter-Korean economic cooperation,” he said, citing the relationships between the US and China and the US and Vietnam.

Both China and Vietnam have seen rapid economic growth since they established diplomatic ties with the US in 1979 and 1995, respectively. For Vietnam, since establishing ties, financial support from international organizations resumed, economic sanctions were lifted and it joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.

Although uncertainties remain, experts agreed that the two Koreas should make preparations for the future instead of just waiting for the situation to improve.

Researcher Kim said the two Koreas can prepare for future opportunities through personnel exchanges, defining terms and on-site inspections.

“We had a conversation with North Korean steel experts, but we were not able to understand half of their terms. It was like a foreign language,” he said, stressing the need to define professional terms.

Director Lee from the Korea Resources Corporation went further, saying an inter-Korean mineral cooperation body should be set up to help the two sides better understand each other and to gain more information on the North’s situation.

Currently, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Resources Corporation are mapping out a legal framework for the development of the North’s mineral resources.

Kim Doo-yeol, an official representing the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s mineral resource team, said the South should make more efforts to bring international society to the discussion table with the North.

“Instead of pursing a short-term goal, we should actively support the North to come out into the international society,” Kim said.

“We can invite international organizations like the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank or the Asian Development Bank as well as other nations, like the US or Russia, to the discussion table with the North.”

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)