Word: koreanized
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...necessary to process natural resources themselves." North Korea, on the other hand, is virgin economic territory desperate for capital. "They need to repair the railroads and roads, as well as container berths at the port. And power is the really big issue." This, says Yoon, is where the South Korean government under Lee Myung Bak could come in. "We've had discussions with the government; the investment needed [for infrastructure] is of the size that only with government involvement could it be done...
...that's nothing compared with the overtures Seoul has been playing for its Northern cousins. The centerpiece of commercial ties between the two countries remains the Kaesong industrial zone. Opened in 2003, the district is now home to 65 South Korean-run factories employing 20,000 North Koreans. Lee Im Dong, general manager of the Kaesong Industrial Council, says hundreds of other companies plan to set up plants there when a second phase opens in early 2010. A rush is anticipated in part because, at the October summit between Roh and Kim, the North agreed to key improvements...
...investment interest among South Korean companies is not restricted to Kaesong. With the persistent high global demand for basic commodities as a backdrop, a group of South Korean officials from mining and mining-equipment companies have recently been allowed several visits to Danchon, an area in the country's northeast that is known in the mining industry for its rich mineral deposits. Danchon reflects the somber reality - but also the potential - of doing business in North Korea. The transportation infrastructure in the region is dilapidated, the power supply unreliable. But some companies are willing to take the risk. Four years...
...years. The projects are starting to bear fruit. On Dec. 11 a regular rail-freight service was inaugurated between Seoul and Kaesong, punching a symbolic hole in the heavily fortified DMZ that divides the countries. Work is also underway to repair a rail line linking Kaesong with the North Korean city of Sinuiju on the Chinese border - promising to give South Korean companies an overland transport route to the booming mainland. The South has also promised to help rebuild the main highway from Kaesong to Pyongyang. Given that there is already an expressway that runs from Seoul...
...factories in the West Sea. But Lee Myung Bak's transition team has all but ruled out any quick movement on a West Sea project, mainly because the geopolitics of the region are still deeply contentious. The maritime border between the two countries is contested - the North and South Korean navies have skirmished several times in the region, most recently in 2002 - and enmity flared anew last month when naval attachés from the two sides almost got into a fistfight during initial discussions about the proposed...