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S. Korean businessmen to meet in Kaesong

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

According to Yonahp:

Top executives of more than 120 South Korean companies operating in the Kaesong Industrial Complex plan to meet in the North’s border city this week, in the first such meeting to discuss pending inter-Korean business issues, an organizer said Tuesday.

The CEO conference is scheduled to bring together the heads or local representatives of 123 South Korean firms and other related officials on Wednesday, said Bae Won-joo, one of the organizers of the meeting.

A Unification Ministry official said the meeting was designed to discuss issues related to the operation of the industrial complex. He did not give further details and asked not to identified, citing office policy.

Previous posts on the Kaesong Industrial Zone can be found here.

Read the full story here:
S. Korean businessmen to meet in N. Korea’s industrial park
Yonhap
2011-12-6

Posted in Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), South Korea, Special Economic Zones (Established before 2013) | Comments Closed

DPRK employment at Kaesong continues to grow

Friday, December 2nd, 2011

According to the Daily NK:

According to records released today by the Ministry of Unification, there were a total of 48,242 workers in the Kaesong Industrial Complex at the end of September, up from 6013 when the project was launched in 2005.

Following the recent resumption of construction at the complex, the number of workers is now expected to grow further.

Revealing the data, an official with the Ministry of Unification commented, “Labor has been provided sufficient for Kaesong Complex enterprises to overcome labor shortages. If conditions get better allowing workers from further away to get employed, it looks like numbers will increase even more.”

The more than 48,000 North Korean workers in the Kaesong Complex bring in $50 million annually for the North Korean government.

As word of the good working environment that the Kaesong Industrial Complex offers spreads, the area is reportedly attracting internal migrants.

“The good reputation of Kaesong among workers has spread to Shinuiji, so they are moving to the area. But accommodation problems have to be solved before any can be hired,” the official explained.

The educational backgrounds of the workers include 81.8% with a high school diploma, 9.5% college graduates and 8.7% from professional schools.

Their base pay plus bonuses and incentives add up to roughly $100 dollars per person, though much of this is lost in payments to the North Korean state.

Here and here are recent post on road construction in Kaesong.

Here are previous posts on the Kaesong Industrial Zone.

Read the full story here:
Kaesong Still Growing
Daily NK
Kim Yong Hun
2011-12-02

Posted in Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), Labor conditions/wages, Special Economic Zones (Established before 2013) | Comments Closed

Seoul to begin Kaesong road repair

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

According to Yonhap:

South Korea will next week start repairing a road used by North Korean commuters to reach an inter-Korean industrial complex in the North, an official said Thursday amid signs of a thaw in bilateral relations.

The 4.5-kilometer road linking North Korea’s border city of Kaesong to the nearby industrial park is used by more than 47,000 North Korean workers who are employed by some 120 South Korean firms operating in the zone. South Korean officials earlier said the road was damaged in summer’s torrential rains, prompting the South to conduct an on-site survey.

“After signing an agreement (with the North), we expect to start repair work next week,” said an official at the Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean relations in the South.

“It will likely take about three months to complete the work, unless the weather becomes too cold, and cost us around 1.8 billion won (US$1.59 million),” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The repairs will involve restoring damaged paved sections and filling in holes on unpaved sections. Repairing the road is expected to save time for North Korean commuters and reduce traffic accidents.

The Daily NK offers some additonal information:

A government official explained today that the decision was made pursuant to agreement between the Kaesong Industrial Complex Management Committee, LH Construction and the North Korean authorities.

“The agreement has not yet been signed, but we are hoping to start the construction at the beginning of next week,” the official explained.

“Our side has taken on responsibility for planning the road repairs and supervising the construction,” he went on. “The weather could change things, but the construction should require three months and is expected to cost 1.8 billion South Korean won.”

Aside from the aforementioned construction, there are also plans to reconstruct two turning points for buses serving the complex. The human resources for the construction will be provided by North Korea.

There are plans to extend bus service to cover the areas of Pongchon (봉천), Kumchon (금천), and Phyongsan (평산). However, the roads to these areas are unpaved and extension of transportation services to these areas will require negotiations with the North Korean authorities.

Read the full story here:
Seoul to start repairing road leading to Kaesong complex next week
Yonhap
2011-11-3

Posted in Automobiles, Foreign direct investment, Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), South Korea, Special Economic Zones (Established before 2013), Transportation | 1 Comment »

ROK government planning to resume construction and relax sanctions in Kaesong zone

Thursday, October 20th, 2011

Pictured above (Google Earth): The towns mentioned in the article below from which the Kaesong Industrial Zone could draw more labor: Pongchon (봉천), Kumchon (금천), and Phyongsan (평산).

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
2011-10-20

According to South Korea’s Ministry of Unification (MOU), the “May 24 Sanctions” that went into effect after the sinking of the naval boat Cheonan was relaxed and began to permit the resumption of construction of businesses in the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC). In addition, plans to build fire stations and emergency medical facilities in the area are also currently underway.

After South Korean Grand National Party chairman Hong Jun-pyo visited KIC on September 30, 2011, the ROK government has reached the following decisions: 1) to allow the resumption of halted factory constructions; 2) to build a fire station and emergency medical facility; 3) to resume repair work for commuting roads for KIC employees; and 4) to extend the operations of commuter buses.

This means seven companies that received permits in the past to begin construction but stopped after the sanctions went into effect would be able to resume the halted construction projects.

According to the Ministry of Unification, the seven companies include three metal and machinery, three textile, and one electronic factories, taking up a total area of 103,527 square meters. The total site of production facilities of stage 1 businesses in the KIC reaches 2,171,900 square meters, in which the currently operating 123 companies take up 783,471 square meters. With the sanctions lifted, the total area of businesses in operation will reach 885,950 square meters.

In addition, five companies awaiting construction for expansion will have to wait a little longer. The authorities announced to discuss this issue at a later date, looking positively on their construction to resume shortly as well.

Also the MOU announced to push forward with the establishment of fire stations and emergency medical facilities, “to protect the properties and health of businesses and employees of the KIC. The plans to break ground for fire station will begin in mid-November and is expected to be completed by late next year.”

The layout for the KIC fire station was completed in December 2009 and 3.3 billion USD has been budgeted to fund the construction. The station will be constructed on a steel frame on a 3,305 square-meter lot with the total floor space to be around 2,182 square meters.

The Kaesong Management Committee has been operating a “fire/police station” from April 2005. But with occurrences of accidental fires since last winter, it has reinforced the number of fire engines and manpower – currently at a total of eight fire trucks and 36 fire fighters.

Medical facilities in the KIC will also be completed by the end of 2012 once the construction begins early next year. About 3 billion USD is set for this project.

Currently at the KIC, Green Doctor’s Cooperation Hospital is in charge of providing medical and health services in the KIC, with South Korea Green Doctor’s Kaesong Hospital treating the South Korean employees and North Korean Comprehensive Clinic treating the North Korean employees exclusively. The South Korea Green Doctor’s Kaesong Hospital is currently operated by volunteers at a clinic level. The hospital was in the process of improving the facilities to more than ten beds. However, this project was halted after the May 24 sanctions went in effect.

On another note, the MOU also announced that maintenance work for the road connecting Kaesong City to the KIC would begin. The road is normally used by North Korean employees of the KIC. It was also announced that the number and operation of commuter buses would increase to help with the commute. The buses operate in the 20 km radius; the plan is to increase that to 40 km. Since September 2010, the number of buses increased to 400.

There are plans to extend the service to cover the areas of Kumchon, Bongchon, and Pyongsang. However, the roads to these areas are unpaved and extension of transportation services to these areas will require negotiations with the North Korean authorities.

Although these measures will alleviate some of the problems faced by the businesses in the KIC, the MOU still stands firm on its position that North Korea must take responsibility and make formal apology for the Cheonan incident in order for a fundamental resolution of the situation to occur.

Posted in Automobiles, Construction, Economic reform, Foreign direct investment, Health care, Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), RoK Ministry of Unification, South Korea, Special Economic Zones (Established before 2013), Transportation | 2 Comments »

South Korea to allow firms to resume Kaesong construction

Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

Pictured above (Google Earth): Kaesong Industrial Zone (Sept. 2009)

According to Reuters:

South Korea said on Tuesday it will allow 120 of its firms to restart building a joint industrial park with North Korea, a fresh sign of tensions between the rival countries easing.

Construction of five factories can resume, and work to build seven new ones can go ahead, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said, 17 months after stopping activity in protest at what the South said was an attack by the North on one of its ships.

The South Korean firms employ about 46,000 North Korean workers at the Kaesong industrial park to make clothes, utensils and watches, taking advantage of cheaper labour and property than is available in the South.

According to the Choson Ilbo:

[The Ministry of Unification] will also build a fire station and hospital at the complex, repair a highway linking the city of Kaesong with the industrial complex, and add 45 buses to shuttle North Korean workers to and from the facility.

Previous posts on the Kaesong Zone can be found here.

Read the full story here:
S.Korea allows work at factories in North to restart
Reuters
2011-10-11

Posted in Construction, Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), Light Industry, Manufacturing, South Korea, Special Economic Zones (Established before 2013) | Comments Closed

Kaesong firms report hard times

Thursday, September 1st, 2011

According to Yonahp:

South Korean firms operating at an inter-Korean industrial complex have asked the government to grant a grace period for their debt repayments, saying the two Koreas’ strained political relations have adversely affected their business, officials at the complex said Wednesday.

The officials said an association of South Korean firms at the factory park collected signatures from some 40 firms operating there and submitted the request to the Ministry of Unification last week. The ministry is tasked with handling inter-Korean affairs.

“Although the total amount of production at the complex has increased this year, about 30 percent of our firms are experiencing significant difficulties,” said one of the officials, who wished to remain unidentified.

In the letter, the firms said their businesses are struggling due to the months-long political standoff triggered by North Korea’s deadly military attacks against the South last year. Seoul suspended nearly all ties with Pyongyang last year over the March sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan and the artillery shelling of the front-line island Yeonpyeong, which killed a total of 50 South Koreans.

“With a growing number of firms facing the risk of bankruptcy, (we) need emergency measures from financial institutions, including an extension of grace periods and the deferral of debt repayments,” the firms said in the letter.

The association sent a similar request to Rep. Park Joo-sun of the main opposition Democratic Party last week, prompting lawmakers from a special parliamentary committee on inter-Korean relations to plan a trip to the joint industrial zone. The visit was canceled, however, after the Unification Ministry effectively denied their entry. All trips to North Korea are subject to prior approval from the ministry, as the Koreas remain in a technical state of war following a cease-fire at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

The industrial complex in the North Korean border city of Kaesong, an achievement of the first-ever inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang in 2000, combines South Korea’s capital and technology with the North’s cheap labor to produce clothes, utensils, watches and other goods.

Read previous stories on the Kaesong Industrial Zone here.

Read the full story here:
Kaesong firms request deferral of debt repayments
Yonahp
2011-8-31

Posted in Economic reform, Foreign direct investment, Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), Special Economic Zones (Established before 2013) | Comments Closed

Chinese foreign ministry publication frank on Rason and Hwanggumphyong

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

The Choson Ilbo reports:

The World’s Knowledge biweekly published by World Knowledge Publishing House under the [Chinese] Foreign Ministry supervision dismissed the North Korean plan to build what it called “its own Hong Kong.” In its latest edition, Tang Longwen, an associate professor at the Dandong party school, said, “The North’s plan to develop the two islands by leasing them to Chinese enterprises costs too much.”

Chinese businesses “need to check if it is worth making huge investment in areas that neither have abundant resources nor are worth developing,” Tang wrote.

Tang also mentioned risks from the lack of proper governance in North Korea. Citing the joint Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex as an example, he said, “What is important is not the development of the two islands but whether the North genuinely intends to open its doors. Everybody worries that the North will just open and close the islands as it likes.”

He cited the North’s habitual disregard for international norms, apparently referring to its unilateral abrogation of its contract with Hyundai Asan in the Mt. Kumgang package tour project and repeated bans on passage to the Kaesong industrial park.

“The North is calling for simultaneous development of the Rajin-Sonbong area and Hwanggumpyong, but China is more interested in the Rajin-Sonbong area, which would give it access” to the East Sea, he said. As Chinese President Hu Jintao said during Kim’s visit to China in May, “the two countries should seek ‘win-win’ economic cooperation. It should not be sought through one-sided aid.”

On three visits to China between May last year to May this year, Kim asked China to support the development of Wihwa and Hwanggumpyong islands, but Beijing told him cooperation “should be sought based on market principles.”

Chinese officials attended a ground-breaking ceremony on Hwanggumpyong at the North’s request in June, but there has reportedly been no progress in construction since then.

A recent in the Financial Times article quotes another Chinese academic who expresses some skepticism about the success of the new ventures:

North Korea’s past experience of working with other countries has left it with a serious credibility problem and this will stop a lot of foreign investment from even considering these new zones,” says Zhang Liangui, a professor of international strategic research at China’s central Communist party school.

Mr Zhang graduated from the Kim Il-sung University in North Korea and is considered one of China’s top experts on the country. “Even though Chinese entrepreneurs are being encouraged and supported by China to invest there, they are still very cautious about considering the Hwanggumphyong Island Economic Zone, and investors from other countries will be even more circumspect,” he explains.

“It will be very difficult to build this zone up,” he adds, citing the unpredictability of the political situation in North Korea and UN sanctions which would prevent many investors from considering the venture.

In addition, analysts warn that similar moves in the past have led to nothing. The Rason zone that Chinese and North Korean officials broke ground on in June will incorporate an area that was designated as an investment zone in the early 1990s but never attracted any real interest.

Previous posts on Hwanggumphyong here.

Previous posts on Rason here.

Read the full story here:
Chinese Magazine Dismisses N.Korean Development Dreams
Choson Ilbo
2011-8-31

Posted in China, Economic reform, Foreign direct investment, Hwanggumphyong and Wihwado Economic Zones (Sinuiju), Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), Rason Economic and Trade Zone (Rajin-Sonbong) | Comments Closed

Inter-Korean trade statistics update

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011

According to the Choson Ilbo:

According to the Unification Ministry, 123 firms were operating in the industrial park as of July, with combined production output amounting to US$34.87 million in May, up 25 percent from $27.79 million year-on-year.

The total volume of inter-Korean trade through the industrial park reached $825.88 million in the first half of this year, up 19.5 percent from last year and a whopping 135.8 percent from 2009.

South Korean staff dwindled from 1,461 in 2008, when inter-Korean trade was at its height, to 801 in May this year, but the number of North Korean workers rose from 36,650 to 47,172. And some 3,700 more North Korean workers were hired even since May last year when the South banned new investments there after the North sank the Navy corvette Cheonon in March.

At the moment, the regime is unlikely to shut down the industrial park, since nearly 50,000 North Koreans are working there. But experts stress that the government should take the seizure of the properties in the resort as a warning and be prepared for anything that the regime could do.

“There’s nothing we can be sure of in inter-Korean relations,” said Dong Yong-seung, a researcher at the Samsung Economic Research Institute. “Risk factors always exist because the government launched the Kaesong project without providing any safety net to protect its people and properties, as in the case of the Mt. Kumgang tour project.”

South Korean investments in the industrial park amount to W920 billion (US$1=W1,079) — W540 billion invested by the 123 firms, and W380 billion from the government and public corporations to lay the infrastructure, including electricity and communications facilities, and landscaping.

If the regime shuts down the industrial park, the South would suffer double the losses it incurred from the regime’s seizure of the properties in Mt. Kumgang, which are worth W484.1 billion.

Read the full story here:
Kaesong Firms Worry as N.Korea Seizes Mt. Kumgang Assets
Choson Ilbo
2011-8-24

Posted in Economic reform, Finance, Fiscal & monetary policy, Foreign direct investment, Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), Labor conditions/wages, Light Industry, Manufacturing, RoK Ministry of Unification, South Korea, Special Economic Zones (Established before 2013), Statistics, Trade Statistics | Comments Closed

Health care on hold in Kaesong

Monday, August 22nd, 2011

Pictured above (Google Earth): Kaesong Industrial Zone (Sept. 2009)

According to Yonhap:

With Seoul’s plan to build a hospital within the inter-Korean industrial park in the North stalled, more than 220 South Korean workers have had to be rushed to hospitals in the South for emergency treatment over the past five years, the Unification Ministry said Monday.

As many as 227 South Korean workers who were injured or fell ill while working in the joint complex in the North’s border town of Kaesong had to be transferred across the border to general hospitals in South Korean border cities between 2007 and June this year, according to the ministry.

Though a small clinic manned by two doctors and three nurses has been in operation in the Kaesong complex since 2005, it is only capable of administering simple first aid, it added.

To cope with steady demand for emergency medical services, Seoul had planned to set up a hospital with 10 beds and a dozen medical staff by the end of last year, and earmarked 326.8 billion won (US$301.7 million) in 2010 and 330 billion won in 2011 to fund the project.

But with the souring of inter-Korean relations over Pyongyang’s two deadly attacks on South Korea last year, Seoul has yet to even take the first steps toward building such facilities, according to the ministry.

“Our plan for a better medical environment for the Kaesong workers will be pushed back in consideration of overall inter-Korean relations and how things will unfold in the industrial park,” a ministry official said.

Around 500 South Koreans, together with more than 46,000 North Koreans, currently work at some 120 South Korean companies in the Kaesong joint industrial park, which has been in operation since 2004.

Read the full story here:
Inter-Korean hostility inconveniences Kaesong complex patients
Yonhap
Oh Seok-min
2011-8-22

Posted in Construction, Health care, Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), Special Economic Zones (Established before 2013) | Comments Closed

Inter-Korean trade volume for the first half of 2011 reached US$830 million

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
2011-8-11

Despite the current impasse in inter-Korean relations, the trade volume in the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC) continues to rise, up about 20 percent against last year.

According to the ROK Ministry of Unification, the inter-Korean trade via Kaesong totaled 825.88 million USD in the first six months of 2011. In comparison to last year’s 691.09 million USD, this is a 19.5 percent increase (134.795 million USD) and a whopping 135.8 percent climb (475.64 million USD) from 2009.

The total import reached 444.98 million USD, up 36.4 percent from last year. The total export recorded 389 million USD, a slight increase of 4.3 percent.

As of June 2011, there are about 123 companies reported to be in Kaesong. A total of 560 South Korean staffs work in the KIC, 155 of which joined since June of last year. There was also a boost in the number of North Korean workers; 3,161 new workers joined the complex from the year before, making the current number of North Korean employees 47,172.

In comparison, both commercial trade including general trade (mineral and agricultural products) and noncommercial trade such as humanitarian assistance and socio-cultural exchanges dwindled 16.2 percent (161.34 million USD) from the previous year.

The figure suggests the plunge was triggered by the sanctions imposed by the South Korean government on North Korea since May 24 of last year — a response to North Korea’s deadly provocation in March 2010 — cutting off most of the humanitarian assistance and exchanges. According to the ministry of unification, before the sanctions went into effect, general trade that comprised 30 percent fell below 1 percent and humanitarian assistance became nonexistent.

According to a recent survey conducted in the complex, economic loss engendered by the May 24 sanctions are estimated to be 3.875 billion USD. Out of the 154 total economic cooperation and trade firms in Kaesong, 104 claimed to have suffered economically, totaling over 430 million USD in losses.

The survey was conducted from January 24 to March 25 with 154 firms: 79.2 percent indicated the recent sanctions have significantly impacted their businesses; 3.2 percent answered “a little” effect; none answered “no effect at all.”

Moreover, 78.6 percent responded that the sanctions led to interruption in business operations and 12.3 percent replied that the sanctions resulted in complete shutdown.

In addition, reduction of staffs was also linked to the sanctions, in which 34.4 percent reported to have downsized by 20 percent, while 26.7 percent reported 30 to 40 percent cut backs in the number of staff.

Posted in Foreign direct investment, International trade, Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), Labor conditions/wages, Special Economic Zones (Established before 2013), Statistics, Trade Statistics | Comments Closed

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