(LEAD) Koreas embark on trip to joint factories in China, Vietnam

(ATTN: RECASTS lead, 2nd para)
SEOUL, Dec. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea said its officials left Saturday for China
to conduct a survey of factory parks overseas with their North Korean
counterparts and explore ways to enhance the operation of their joint industrial
complex in the North.

A team of 10 officials from each side were to meet in 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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