hankyoreh

Two Chinese companies will start doing business in the industrial complex in North Korea’s border city of Gaesong. It will be the first time foreign enterprises will be allowed to do business in the communist country.

According to South Korea’s Unification Ministry, two Chinese companies have almost completed the documentation work required to acquire land in the Gaesong industrial complex for their business activities. “Unless there are serious problems, the two will get their contracts done soon,” said an official in charge of land assignment.

The two Chinese companies, one that specializes in making artificial finger nails and one that produces plywood, have reportedly applied for 6,000 square meters and 2,000 square meters, respectively, of land in the Gaesong industrial complex last June.

The state-run Korea Land Corporation put up a notice that it would begin receiving applications for land assignments from foreign companies last June. None were received, however, so the KLC has since adopted a system of private contracts for the land assignments.

Meanwhile, on Aug. 14, U.S.-based pharmaceutical company Kimberly Clark met with the Unification Ministry’s Gaesong Industrial Park Support Team to discuss the possibility of investing in the industrial park. Confirming this, an official of the Unification Ministry emphasized that Kimberly Clark’s investment in Gaesong would be significant, in view of developments in the relationship between the United States and North Korea.