The South Korean government is preparing plans for an inter-Korean project involving the refurbishment of North Korea’s infrastructure and improving its mining sector, Seoul’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) announced on May 2, in a move which had remained largely unpublicized until Monday.

The South’s MOLIT gave the public “emergency notice” of a bid for a research project entitled “Study on the Development Strategy for the Inter-Korean Cooperation Project on Infrastructure and Resources” a week ahead of the country’s presidential election on Tuesday.

MOLIT argued that the economic development of North Korea needs to be initiated as soon as