Peace on the Korean Peninsula will boost the South Korean economy as it would increase growth potential, the mayor of the South Korean capital city said Monday.
"Security and peace are important to our economy. The potential risks of war have reduced (South) Korea's economic potential with the name Korea Discount,' or Seoul Discount,'" Mayor Park Won-soon said in a meeting with foreign correspondents in Seoul.
Park said peace on the peninsula will serve as a driving force for the economy, leading the global economy to grow further.
Once the railway between South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is connected across the border, people would go from Seoul station to Pyongyang station in just one hour, and arrive in Beijing by train in just one day, the Seoul mayor noted.
The two Koreas held a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony in late December to modernize and eventually connect railways and roads across the inter-Korean border.
According to the Korea Transport Institute estimate, the Gyeongui Line connecting Seoul to the DPRK's northwestern city of Sinuiju could have an economic effect of up to 140 trillion won (124 billion U.S. dollars) for the next 30 years.
Including the expected trade expansion and the logistics cost savings, the economic effect would increase further, the mayor noted.
