Koreas embark on trip to joint factories in China, Vietnam

Koreas-joint factory survey


SEOUL, Dec. 12 (Yonhap) -- Officials of South and North Korea left for China on
Saturday to begin their survey of factory parks overseas in a bid to enhance the
operation of their joint industrial complex in the North, Seoul's Unification
Ministry said.

A team of 10 officials from each side left for Qingdao, an industrial port town
in southern China, after which they will travel to Suzhou, a hub for China's silk
industry, Shenzhen, a southern financial center, and finally Yenpong, a
Vietnamese complex near Hanoi. The trip will end on Dec. 22, according to the
ministry.
"The survey is aimed at taking an intensive look at factors that help improve the
competitiveness of the factory complexes being run successfully overseas," the
ministry said in a statement.
The North's agreement last month to hold the survey was a sign that it wants to
keep up the joint park in the North's border town of Kaesong. The park's fate
came into question earlier this year amid deteriorating inter-Korean relations
and North Korean demands to sharply raise wages and land fees paid by South
Korean firms.
The Kaesong venture opened in 2004 as a result of the historic first inter-Korean
summit in 2000. Currently 116 South Korean firms operate there with more than
40,800 North Korean workers, producing mostly labor-intensive goods such as
electronics, clothing and kitchenware.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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