박근혜 대통령은 29일 중국 국빈방문 중 가진 칭화대 연설에서  "핵개발을 하는 북한에 세계 어느 나라가 투자를 하겠는가" 라며 "북한이 내건 핵무기 개발과 경제건설의 병행 노선은 애당초 불가능한 일이고 스스로 고립만 자초하는 길이 될 것"이라고 지적했다.

박 대통령은 이날 오전 '중국의 MIT'로 불리는 이공계 최고 명문대이자 시진핑(習近平) 중국 국가주석의 모교인 북경 소재 칭화대(淸華大) 에서 '새로운 20년을 여는 한중 신뢰의 여정' 이란 주제의 강연에서 동북아의 상생과 평화를 위하여 "한반도에 진정한 변화를 가져오고 싶다"며 이같이 밝혔다.

특히 박 대통령은 "만약 북한이 핵을 버리고 국제사회의 책임있는 일원이 되는 변화의 길로 들어선다면 한국은 북한을 적극 도울 것이고 동북아 전체가 상생하게 될 것"이라며  "그렇게 한반도에 평화가 정착되고 남북한 구성원이 자유롭게 왕래할 수 있게 된다면 동북 3성 개발을 비롯해 중국의 번영에도 도움이 될 것"이라고 말했다.

또 그는 "그러려면 무엇보다 한반도와 동북아의 평화를 위협하는 북핵 문제를 해결하고 북한이 국제사회의 책임있는 일원이 되는 것이 중요하다"며  "북한 은 핵보유를 용납하지 않겠다는 국제사회의 일치된 목소리에 귀기울여야 한다"고 강조했다.

또 "만약 북한이 핵을 버리고 국제사회의 책임있는 일원이 되는 변화의 길로 들어선다면 한국은 북한을 적극 도울 것이고 동북아 전체가 상생하게 될 것"이라며  "그렇게 한반도에 평화가 정착되고 남북한 구성원이 자유롭게 왕래할 수 있게 된다면 동북 3성 개발을 비롯해 중국의 번영에도 도움이 될 것"이라고 말했다.

또 그는  "평화가 정착되고 남북한 구성원이 자유롭게 왕래하며 안정되고 풍요로운 아시아를 만드는데 기여하는 한반도가 제가 그리는 '새로운 한반도'의 모습" 라며  "비록 지금은 남북한이 불신과 대립의 악순환에서 못 벗어나고 있지만 저는 새로운  남북관계를 만들고, 새로운 한반도를 만들 수 있다고 생각한다"고 말했다.

박 대통령이 남북한 주민의 자유왕래를 골자로 한 '새로운 한반도'라는 화두로 남북관계의 전망을 언급하기는 처음이다.

박 대통령은 "북한 문제로 인한 지정학적 리스크가 사라진 동북아 지역은  풍부한 노동력과 세계 최고의 자본과 기술을 결합해 세계 경제를 견인하는 '지구촌의 성장 엔진'이 될 것"이라고 기대했다.

이어 박 대통령은 한중 관계와 관련, "지난 20년의 성공적 관계를 넘어 새로운 20년을 여는 신뢰의 여정을 시작하고자 한다"며 "시 주석과 함께 채택한 '한중 미래비전 공동서명'은 이러한 여정을 위한 청사진이자 로드맵"이라고 밝혔다.

박 대통령은 총 20분에 걸친 이날  연설 의 처음과 마지막 대목 4분여를 중국어로 진행해 눈길을 끌었다.

<관련 영문 기사>

Park calls for relations of 'trust' with China in university speech

South Korean President Park Geun-hye delivered a friendship address at the alma mater of Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday, calling for the two neighbors to build relations of "trust" based on the big strides they have made in just 20 years of diplomatic ties.Park began the 20-minute speech before students and faculty members at Tsinghua University in Beijing with about five minutes of greetings and opening remarks in the Chinese language, including an ancient Chinese maxim about the importance of education.

Officials said Park studied Chinese by herself and has a relatively good command of the language.

"Only about 20 years have passed since South Korea and China established diplomatic relations in 1992, but friendship and cooperation developed at a pace nearly unprecedented in the world," Park said, offering a series of figures showing the rapid increases in economic and other exchanges between the two sides.

"I believe that Korea-China relations should now move forward into a more mature and substantial partnership ... I intend to pursue dialogue and cooperation in a more forward moving way based on the deep trust forged with President Xi through the summit," she said.

"Beyond the successful Korea-China relations over the past 20 years, I intend to begin a journey of trust that opens up new 20 years," she said, adding that a joint communique the two sides adopted at the summit is a "blueprint and roadmap" for her efforts.

Since opening diplomatic ties, China has overtaken the United States as South Korea's No. 1 trade partner and other exchanges flourished. But their political and security relations have not moved forward to match their economic ties, due largely to disagreements over how to handle North Korea.

Under the wide-ranging joint communique adopted at this week's summit, however, the two sides pledged to significantly bolster all-round cooperation, especially political and security relations, including opening a top-level security dialogue channel.

On North Korea, Park and Xi agreed in the joint communique that the communist nation's nuclear program poses a serious threat to peace in the region and beyond and pledged to work closely together to bring about a nuclear weapons-free Korean Peninsula.

During the university speech, Park outlined her vision for peace with the North.

"I want to bring genuine peace to the Korean Peninsula," she said. "What is more important than anything else is to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue and for North Korea to become a responsible member of the international community. North Korea should listen to the united voice from the international community that its nuclear program is unacceptable."

Park said she is ready to help North Korea revive its broken economy if it gives up its nuclear program. She also stressed that a peaceful Korean Peninsula would also be of help to the prosperity in Chinese provinces bordering with North Korea.

"A Northeast Asia without geopolitical risks stemming from the issue of North Korea would serve as a 'growth engine' for the world through the combination of a rich labor force and the world's best capital and technologies" in the region, she said. "It will offer more opportunities of success for your lives as well."

Park also outlined her "Northeast Asia peace and cooperation initiative," saying countries in the region have a high level of mutual economic interdependence, but their political and security cooperation lag far behind due to historical and security disputes.

The initiative, also known as the "Seoul process," calls for countries in the region to start with softer, non-political issues, such as environmental issues, disaster relief, nuclear safety and counter-terrorism, so as to foster trust and expand cooperation to political and security matters.

Beijing was the first leg of Park's four-day state visit to China.

Later Saturday, Park was scheduled to fly to the ancient city of Xian in western China.

Xian, an ancient capital with more than 3,000 years of history, is a base for China's push to develop western parts of the country and has great potential for economic cooperation as the city could serve as a foothold for South Korean firms trying to expand into Central Asia and Europe.

While there, Park plans to meet with leaders of the Shaanxi province for discussions on ways to increase economic cooperation and other ties between the two sides. She also plans to visit South Korean companies and cultural sites in the city.(Yonhap News)