Production in inter-Korean business town tops $400 million

SEOUL, Sept. 15 (Yonhap) -- The total output by South Korean factories operating in North Korea has exceeded US$400 million, Seoul's Unification Ministry said Monday.

Companies at the Kaesong industrial complex produced goods worth a total of
US$410 million between January 2005, when the compound was opened, and July this
year. One-fifth of all goods produced were exported, according to the ministry
handling inter-Korean affairs.

The output in the first seven months of this year amounted to $140 million, up 51
percent from the same period last year.

The complex, a key symbol of rapprochement between the two Koreas, combines the
South's technology and management expertise with cheap skilled labor provided by
the North. Factories there produce low-tech goods, from frying pans to clothes
and running shoes.

The zone has continued to expand despite a chill in inter-Korean relations under
the South's conservative administration, which took office early this year.

As of August, 79 firms operated in the area, employing more than 32,000 North
Korean workers, mostly women.

More than 40 South Korean companies also plan to set up new factories in Kaesong
by the end of this year, the ministry said.

lcd@yna.co.kr

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