S. Korean IT experts to visit N. Korea

SEOUL, Jan. 15 (Yonhap) -- A group of South Korean information technology experts
and businessmen will visit North Korea next month on a rare trip to the communist
country amid frozen cross-border exchanges, organizers said Thursday.
The 80-member group is scheduled to tour North Korea's major IT centers and hold
a joint software exhibition during its Feb. 7-11 visit, said the non-governmental
South-North Cooperation for IT Exchange. They also plan to donate 5,000 IT books
and journals to the North.
"IT books we have delivered so far were mostly Korean language books, and the
North Koreans requested original texts. So we collected some foreign language
texts this time," said Kim Jin-hyung, a member of the team and professor from the
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).
Through annual visits since 2006, the IT organization has delivered about 30,000
technical books and latest journals. Yoo Wan-ryung, chief of Seoul-based
Unikotech Korea which has promoted investment in North Korea, participates in
this visit, organizers said.
In North Korea, the group plans to visit, among others, the electronic library at
the Kimchaek University of Technology, the North's top college in science and
engineering, and Pyongyang Information Center.
Kim said North Korea has a good talent pool, but its frail infrastructure is
barring growth of its IT sector.
"Young engineers are great programmers and international prize winners, but their
skill is not well connected to business because of a lack of equipment," he said.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)