North Korea's Nuclear Arms Announcement Chills Economic Development in Kaesong
North Korea's declaration that it has nuclear weapons and is boycotting six-party talks on its nuclear program comes as bad news for South Korean companies that are currently doing business or planning to do business in the North’s Kaesong Industrial Complex. Among 15 South Korean companies licensed to operate in the industrial park, two firms including Living Art have started production of goods, and another eight including Bucheon Industrial are building plants.
Chung In-gyo, an official at Bucheon Industrial, an electric home appliance maker, said that icy intra-Korean relations could delay completion of its plant. Pyongyang has sometimes refused to allow South Koreans to visit the North, and there were concerns such refusals could become more frequent.
An official with footwear maker Samdeok, Chun Seong-pyo, said the North’s announcement could derail the company’s plans to export its products to the U.S. Export to the U.S. is difficult because Washington has designated the North a “sponsor of terrorism”.
Others disagreed over the prospects of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a joint venture between the two Koreas. Gong Chang-du, an official in charge of the Kaesong Industrial Complex project at the Korea Land Corporation (KLC), said the project would not be hampered because the North abided by the principle of separating politics and the economy. On Friday, KLC officials visited the North along with Korea Telecommunication workers to discuss the installation of communication equipment in the industrial park
Chung In-gyo, an official at Bucheon Industrial, an electric home appliance maker, said that icy intra-Korean relations could delay completion of its plant. Pyongyang has sometimes refused to allow South Koreans to visit the North, and there were concerns such refusals could become more frequent.
An official with footwear maker Samdeok, Chun Seong-pyo, said the North’s announcement could derail the company’s plans to export its products to the U.S. Export to the U.S. is difficult because Washington has designated the North a “sponsor of terrorism”.
Others disagreed over the prospects of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a joint venture between the two Koreas. Gong Chang-du, an official in charge of the Kaesong Industrial Complex project at the Korea Land Corporation (KLC), said the project would not be hampered because the North abided by the principle of separating politics and the economy. On Friday, KLC officials visited the North along with Korea Telecommunication workers to discuss the installation of communication equipment in the industrial park
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