“Koreans Find Prime Property Near the DMZ [referring to LG Philips]” 

The January 15 (Sun.) issue of the New York Times carried a feature article written by James Brooke, its correspondent in Japan, entitled “Koreans Find Prime Property Near the DMZ.” The reporter said that “the political détente between the two Koreas is bearing economic fruit as South Korea’s economic expansion washes away psychological barriers and now laps at the southern edge of the long-feared DMZ and that workers at LG Philips LCD are starting to produce liquid-crystal display screens at a new $5 billion plant.” 

He also said that “The stampede to what developers bill as the last best place near Seoul [referring to Paju] is propelled by the pressure of nearly 50 million people squeezed into South Korea, a country smaller than Virginia, and by an economy that looks to cap costs and compete with China.” 

The article quoted Gyeonggi Governor Sohn Hak-kyu as saying, “The northern part of the province is really growing because of the real estate prices. If Philips thought it was dangerous, how could they invest $10 billion?” 
The article went on to quote Lee Bang Soo, a spokesman for LG.Philips LCD, as saying, “If we are looking at the southern part of Seoul, there are traffic jams and the price of the real estate is very expensive,” emphasizing a variety of attractive conditions offered by Gyeonggi Province as an investment destination. 

Reporter James Brooke said, “Paju has seen its civilian population double since 2003, to 300,000, as workers seek apartments that are far cheaper than in Seoul. Three industrial parks and one planned city of 150,000 are going up, all within 15 miles of the southern edge of the DMZ” The article also quoted the contents of its interview with Choi Gwi Nam, director of the planned city, who was quoted as saying, “Paju will be labeled Ubiquitous City because all the apartments will have high-speed Internet access.” 

The NYT reporter concluded his article by saying that “In the geographical gap where North Korean tanks once rolled south, South Korean bulldozers may soon be rumbling north.”