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North Korean workers work in a South Korean watch factory at the inter-Korean industrial complex in the North Korean city of Kaesong.
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The government is thinking of setting up several more inter-Korean joint ventures in North Korea in addition to the existing industrial complex in Kaesong. Former president Kim Dae-jung told ABC News that South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il would at their planned summit in early October agree to set up more such complexes.
According to the Unification Ministry, the government is reviewing a proposal to jointly develop the North Korean cities of Nampo, Haeju, Najin, Sunbong, Wonsan and Shinuiju. A government official said North Korean wants the establishment of heavy industry like shipyards, steel works and oil refineries instead of light industry for its economic development, and the inter-Korean summit could discuss it. President Roh Moo-hyun, at a ground-breaking ceremony for an ¡°innovation city¡± in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province, promised to reap many business opportunities for the Korea Land Corporation and the Korea Expressway Corporation at the summit, as well as a port project.
On his Pyongyang trip, Roh will be accompanied by several heads of corporations active in infrastructure projects. They include KEPCO CEO Lee Won-gul, Korea Railroad Corporation CEO Lee Chul, Korea Resources Corporation president Lee Han-ho and Korea Land Corporation president Kim Jae-hyun. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering CEO Nam Sang-tae is also in the delegation.
However, any such projects depend on the denuclearization process in North Korea since taking essential equipment to the North is impossible while the North remains on the U.S.¡¯ list of state sponsors of terrorism. And the next South Korean government will have the task of finding the financial resources.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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