South-North Korea trade to rise 26 pct in 2007-Roh
SEOUL, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Trade between South and North Korea is expected to rise by 26 percent this year as steps to scrap the North's nuclear arms programme speed up and exchanges between the two states keep growing, President Roh Moo-hyun said on Monday.
An opinion poll published on Monday, meanwhile, showed 74 percent of South Koreans approved of only the second summit between the two Koreas and gave the embattled president a 43.4 percent approval rating, from just above 20 percent a month ago.
"The road that had been severed for more than half a century will open for 1,000 people to travel every day, and trade is expected to reach $1.7 billion this year," Roh said in a speech to parliament read by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.
Roh and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il agreed last week to reopen highways and freight rail services into the North and for South Korean firms to invest in plants and ports there.
Trade between the two Koreas was $1.35 billion last year, the second straight year above the $1 billion-mark despite the North's nuclear test in October 2006 that triggered U.N. sanctions.
Roh said the summit proved a complete dissolution of the North's nuclear arms programme was within sight and laid the ground for greater economic ties between the two Koreas, which are technically at war under a truce.
Local media quoted a study by the Hyundai Research Institute over the weekend that said it would cost more than 10 trillion won ($11 billion) to fund the projects agreed at the summit.
The Hankook Ilbo newspaper poll of 1,012 people said Roh's approval rating was 43.4 percent, up 10 percentage points from August. KBS television said its poll of 1,000 people showed a 53.7 percent approval rating for Roh. ($1=915.8 Won) ((Reporting by Jack Kim, editing by David Fox; jack.kim@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: Jack.Kim.reuters.com@reuters.net; +822 3704 5645))
An opinion poll published on Monday, meanwhile, showed 74 percent of South Koreans approved of only the second summit between the two Koreas and gave the embattled president a 43.4 percent approval rating, from just above 20 percent a month ago.
"The road that had been severed for more than half a century will open for 1,000 people to travel every day, and trade is expected to reach $1.7 billion this year," Roh said in a speech to parliament read by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.
Roh and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il agreed last week to reopen highways and freight rail services into the North and for South Korean firms to invest in plants and ports there.
Trade between the two Koreas was $1.35 billion last year, the second straight year above the $1 billion-mark despite the North's nuclear test in October 2006 that triggered U.N. sanctions.
Roh said the summit proved a complete dissolution of the North's nuclear arms programme was within sight and laid the ground for greater economic ties between the two Koreas, which are technically at war under a truce.
Local media quoted a study by the Hyundai Research Institute over the weekend that said it would cost more than 10 trillion won ($11 billion) to fund the projects agreed at the summit.
The Hankook Ilbo newspaper poll of 1,012 people said Roh's approval rating was 43.4 percent, up 10 percentage points from August. KBS television said its poll of 1,000 people showed a 53.7 percent approval rating for Roh. ($1=915.8 Won) ((Reporting by Jack Kim, editing by David Fox; jack.kim@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: Jack.Kim.reuters.com@reuters.net; +822 3704 5645))
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