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North Korean workers at a clothing factory in the Kaesong Industrial Complex before its shutdown in 2016.

Eight out of ten South Korean trading companies intend to take part in projects with North Korea if inter-Korean trade resumes going ahead, a survey shows.

The Institute for International Trade (IIT), affiliated with the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), released findings on June 17 on a survey of “trade business perceptions on inter-Korean trade,” for which 1,176 businesses were questioned. The results showed 80.0 percent of businesses answering that they intended to participate in projects with North Korea if inter-Korean trade resumes.

As reasons for wanting participate, companies cited “new business opportunities including general trade” (36.1 percent), “taking advantage of a low-wage workforce” (25.1 percent), “participating in road, electricity, and other infrastructure development projects” (12.5 percent), and “improving advancement into China’s three northeastern provinces and other neighboring markets” (11.7 percent). The area most commonly given as having promising prospects was “infrastructure, construction, and resources” (35.1 percent), followed by “electricity, electronics, communications, and machinery” (17.3 percent), “tourism” (15.3 percent), “textiles, clothing, and everyday items” (13.5 percent), and “steel, metals, and chemical products” (10.6 percent).

Companies that said they do not intend to participate in North Korea projects cited reasons including “a lack of necessary information and education on North Korea projects” (22.0 percent), “controls and interference by North Korean authorities” (18.6 percent), “changes in administration’s economic policies regarding North Korea” (13.7 percent), “sanctions against North Korea by the US, UN, and international community” (11.6 percent), and “difficulties achieving restitution for damages, including insurance and dispute resolution” (10.0 percent).

As priority tasks for the administration promising private inter-Korean trade, companies listed “establishing the conditions for stable and sustainable trade” (34.6 percent), “winning support from the international community and cooperating on North Korea projects” (15.8 percent), and “smooth communication between South and North Korean businesses and resolution of indirect trade method issues through the National Economic Cooperation Federation” (13.5 percent).

In terms of the economic effects of improved inter-Korean relations, 86.7 percent of respondents said they had been “very positive” (46.9 percent) or “positive” (39.8 percent), while just 3.9 percent rated them as “negative” (2.8 percent) or “very negative” (1.1 percent).

Respondents most commonly predicted inter-Korean trade by private companies would resume within four to five years (31.7 percent), while some predicted it could start as early as this year (9.6 percent) or next year (22.3 percent).

By Choi Ha-yan, staff reporter

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