Abstract
South Korea unfortunately does not have the resources to rehabilitate the North Korean economy on its own, thus will have to internationalize the burden through gaining international cooperation. Complacency must be avoided in this issue, yet the international community will recognize the economic benefits of an increasingly stable and secure Korean peninsula and be ready to contribute. South Korea's North Korea policy needs more emphasis on multilateral mechanisms rather than its current policy of depending heavily on inter-Korean cooperation. It is time to consider creating a multilateral coordination mechanism to develop a framework for international cooperation on the Korean peninsula. The mechanism envisaged in this paper would aim at dealing effectively with policy dialogue on broadly conceived development strategies, investment needs and priorities of North Korea, and the transparency and verification of the economic assistance provided. Getting the aid-providing mechanism right will prevent the infusion of cash into the North that cannot be accounted for and is suspected of being misused. Such a mechanism is also needed for Japanese, US and European firms, in alliance with South Korean firms, to participate effectively in building much-needed basic infrastructure projects in North Korea and share in the benefits. North Korea must request of the international community, however, any conceivable support either bilateral or multilateral, and do what it should do in return.