Ground Broken for Gaeseong Industrial Complex
2003-07-01
The two Koreas on Monday (June 30) held a ground-breaking ceremony for the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, a major economic cooperation experiment creating a capitalist-style industrial zone in the North for South Korean and foreign firms.
At 11 a.m. in Gaeseong, located across the Demilitarized Zone only 70 kilometers north of Seoul, some 120 South and 200 North Koreans witnessed the beginning of the construction.
Kim Jin-ho, president of KOLAND, the South Korean contractor for the project, said in his congratulatory speech that the site will give birth to "common prosperity" for the two Koreas.
Chung Mong-hun, chairman of Hyundai Asan, the operating firm that pioneered the scheme in 2000, said the idea bore fruit 15 years after his father, the late Hyundai founder Chung Ju-yung, visited North Korea in 1989, becoming the first South Korean businessman to do so.
"This symbolizes the beginning of active economic cooperation between the two Koreas," said Chung, who was recently indicted for his company's involvement in the so-called "cash-for-summit" scandal.
Choe Hyon-ku, a North Korean official who took part in the event, said the ground breaking ceremony took place despite the difficult situation his country faces.
"It is the byproduct of the June 15 Joint Declaration" between the two Korean leaders, he said.
Some 900 local companies have shown an interest in Gaeseong, the ancient capital of the 918-1392 Goryeo Dynasty. Under the plan, Hyundai Asan will initially develop 1 million pyong (3.3. million square meters) by 2007, where 300 firms, mostly from the textile and electronics sectors, can move in.
Source : www.korea.net
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