Koreas to hold joint int'l survey for Kaesong park

(ATTN: UPDATES with spokesman's quote, remarks by chief of Kaesong business council
on changes of N. Korean attitude)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Nov. 26 (Yonhap) -- South and North Korea will send a joint survey team to
China and Vietnam next month to try to find an international model that can help
develop their shared factory park, Seoul's Unification Ministry said Thursday.
The joint trip, set for mid-December, may be a sign that the North intends to
continue its conciliatory diplomacy toward South Korea despite recently
unleashing a spate of harsh criticism against the Seoul administration.
"Our government expects this joint survey will contribute to forming an
inter-Korean consensus for developing the Kaesong industrial park," ministry
spokesman Chun Hae-sung said in a press briefing.
North Korea recently agreed to hold the 10-day international survey, which was
proposed by the South in June after payment disputes arose over the joint park in
the North Korean border town of Kaesong, Chun said.
The joint trip would be a watershed for the Kaesong park, whose fate hung by a
thread amid deteriorating inter-Korean relations earlier this year. South Korean
firms operating there had considered pulling out after the North sealed
cross-border traffic several times and detained a South Korean worker, in what
appeared to be a protest against the conservative Seoul government.
North Korea shifted to a more conciliatory stance in August, reaching out to
Seoul and Washington for dialogue and lifting restrictions on inter-Korean
business ventures.
But North Korean media recently resumed their vitriolic criticism of Seoul,
pointing to its prolonged suspension of a lucrative North Korean mountain tour
and its participation in a U.N. resolution condemning the North's human rights
condition. The North called South Korean Unification Minister Hyun In-taek, who
is in charge of inter-Korean relations, a "traitor" impeding cross-border
relations.
A senior unification ministry official said that despite the North's harsh
rhetoric inter-Korean dialogue is quietly taking place out of public view.
"Some may think our government's stance is too hard-line. For example, they may
say, 'Why are there so many conditions when North Korea wants to resume the Mount
Kumgang tour?'" the official said. "But that is not the only aspect of current
inter-Korean relations. Dialogue is going well, and there are various currents
going on in inter-Korean relations."
Businesses operating in Kaesong welcomed the joint survey, expecting it will help
build mutual trust and make the inter-Korean venture internationally competitive.

"North Korean officials don't go overseas very much, so they don't know how
well-equipped the Kaesong park is by international standards," said Ok Sung-seok,
chief of apparel maker Nine Mode Co.
"They demand more, but in my view, there's no other place as good as the Kaesong
park."
Yoo Chang-geun, chairman of the Kaesong Business Council that represents firms
operating at the park, said he has seen North Korean officials' attitudes
positively change toward South Korean investors.
"They used to behave in a unilateral way, but these days they seem to be trying
to listen to what we need," Yoo, whose SJ Tech Co. operates with about 430 North
Korean workers in Kaesong, said. "They seem to be getting an understanding about
capitalism. Before, we thought they were trying to take advantage of us. But
simply, they really didn't know."
North Korea earlier complained of low wages and land fees paid by South Korean
firms at the joint park, which opened in 2004. Several rounds of unsuccessful
negotiations ensued, with North demanding a four-fold increase in the monthly
wage for North Korean workers to US$300.
The ministry said South and North Korea will team up with about 10 people on each
side for the survey. The inspectors will look into incentives for foreign
investors, customs process and other systems at industrial parks in China and
Vietnam that can be used as barometers for the Kaesong venture, it said.
Seoul hopes to continue joint surveys in Central Asia, the United States and
other advanced countries.
The Koreas made a similar trip before relations chilled in 2007, during which
seven officials from both sides toured industrial facilities in China and
Vietnam.
The joint park, a major result of the historic first inter-Korean summit in 2000,
currently hosts 116 South Korean firms employing more than 40,800 North Koreans.
Factories there produce mostly labor-intensive goods such as electronics,
clothing and kitchenware. An average North Korean worker earns about $80.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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