In fact, it had even before polls opened.

 On May 2, South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) issued an “emergency notice” to invite firms to submit bids on potential infrastructure projects in North Korea, particularly regarding the mining sector.

“[Seoul] will develop … mines and establish power generation facilities and transportation infrastructure around mines,” the MOLIT said, according to a translation by NK News. “Profitability will be secured by owning the development rights of resources or exploiting mineral resources.”

The MOLIT was not acting under the direction of the then unelected Moon, but clearly saw the changing tenor of South Korean policy toward the Kim regime. It is, of course, politically expedient for government officials to endear themselves to an incoming administration by exploring policies it might like. And there are also powerful South Korean business interests that would benefit from reengagement with the North, and have stepped up lobbying officials and lawmakers since the December impeachment of outgoing conservative President Park Geun-hye.

There’s little doubt Moon would be receptive to the idea. He told the National Assembly shortly after his election victory, “If the conditions shape up, I will go to Pyongyang.” He also named Suh Hoon as his pick to head the National Intelligence Service, subject to National Assembly approval. Suh has already indicated he would be willing to go to Pyongyang with a view to holding another inter-Korean summit, similar to those he was involved in organizing in 2000 and 2007. It is easy to see why.

“These steps reduce both Koreas’ interstate war risks, providing the sides with communication and non-military options to de-escalate in the case of a provocative incident such as a sixth nuclear test by North Korea,” writes Alison Evans of the IHS Markit analysis firm.

Still, the shift presents a challenge for U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump, who has looked to squeeze the Kim regime in response to its escalating missile and nuclear tests. Projects like that proposed by the MOLIT would undermine the economic pressure put on the regime by China, which in March suspended North Korean coal imports for the rest of the year in line with tough new U.N. sanctions.

Read More: TIME Exclusive: Will South Korean Presidential Hopeful Moon Jae-in Pull the World Back From Nuclear War?

More intriguingly, though, those same U.N. sanctions also ban collaborating in coal, copper, gold, iron, magnesite and zinc — some of the specific industries listed in the MOLIT “emergency notice.”

Source:time.com