An influential German weekly magazine Die Zeit has recently reported, “Gyeonggi Province of South Korea is going to narrow the economic gap between the two Koreas by building an industrial Complex in its area.” Die Zeit paid attention to the fact that “Gyeonggi Province has attracted about 60 percent of the country’s total volume of foreign investment to its area.” The weekly said, “Unbelievably favorable terms and conditions for investment have touched foreign investors. As a result, the DMZ area has turned into a center of global enterprises, where there is no political tension.” 

As a successful case of Korea’s attraction of foreign investment, Die Zeit cited Gyeonggi Province’s attraction of LG Philips LCD to its area. The weekly said: The Gyeonggi provincial government had persuaded a local county municipality for six months to accept LG Philips LCD to its region despite the latter’s opposition to the construction of industrial facilities in an area of military operations. With its own funds, the provincial government broke ground and laid the groundwork for the construction of the industrial complex. It also provided surprising amounts of administrative services in such a way as to install electricity facilities and lay pipes for water supply and sewerage. 

Die Zeit also predicted, “The wages of menial jobs in South Korea would drastically drop, if such jobs are sought by North Korean residents, whose GNP is 30 times lower than that of their South Korean compatriots, after the peninsula is reunified. The unemployment rate would dramatically increase to a two-digit figure from the current 3.8 percent. The South Korean residents would have to take care of the reconstruction of North Korea for the 23 million residents there. This would be nearly double the amount of burden the West German residents had to bear in 1990.” 

The German weekly introduced Gyeonggi Governor Sohn Hak-kyu as a politician of the main opposition Grand National Party, a conservative party with flexible policies, which supports the “sunshine policy.” The weekly concluded its story by quoting Sohn as saying, “It is, above all, necessary to strengthen North Korea’s economy for the sake of national unification. Gyeonggi Province will play a key role on the path to such a cause.” 

Late last year, an influential Swiss daily Neuer Zuercher Zeitung (NZZ) said, “Economic aid to North Korea will not only reduce expenses for national unification in the future, but lead the Pyongyang regime to open its door to the outside.” The daily particularly said, “Gyeonggi Province will play a central role also in the reunification of the peninsula because of its economic standing in the country and its geographical proximity to the DMZ.” Quoting Governor Sohn, the Swiss daily said, “From a long-term point of view, the Paju LCD Complex will be part of a projected special economic zone to encompass Paju of South Korea and Kaesong north of the military demarcation line.” 

The NZZ predicted that South Korea would have to shoulder a much heavier burden in its expenses for national unification than Germany did, although it is trying to pry open the tightly closed gate of North Korea through cooperation, regardless of reactions from North Korea. The daily termed South Korea’s North Korea strategy a “policy of uncompromising reconciliation.” The Swiss newspaper added, “In 1990 when the two Germanies were reunified, about four West German residents had to bear the economic burden for every East German resident. But about two South Korean residents would now have to bear the burden for each North Korean resident.” The daily concluded, “The two Koreas seem to need economic cooperation more badly in light of their economic gap being much wider than that between the two Germanies of the past.” 

Meanwhile, on Jan. 15, 2006 when the government announced a plan to remove some regions from military protection zones, The New York Times reported, “Paju has completely transformed into a high-tech hub from a military city.” The U.S. daily also said LG Philips LCD has invested U.S.$5 billion to produce LCDs in a location only six miles away from the DMZ, that the prices of nearby apartments are rising, and that an English language village will open in March this year. The daily predicted, “It is possible that South Korean bulldozers might roll into the North along the roads that were once trodden by North Korean Army tanks during the Korean War.” 

With regard to the inter-Korean economic cooperation, Governor Sohn Hak-kyu has stressed, “We should continue without interruption the grand plan to lay the groundwork gradually for the national unification, while leading North Korea to a broad road to reform and door opening. He proposed to “establish a special economic zone for inter-Korean trade.” This concept was first introduced in his New Year’s press conference held on Jan. 16. It is a policy aimed at securing substantial global competitiveness by combining South Korea’s capital and technology and North Korea’s labor. It is one of concrete action programs for the implementation of the 10-point master plan for the peaceful management of the Korean Peninsula put forth by Governor Sohn last summer. 

Over the past years, Governor Sohn has called for expanding and strengthening inter-Korean economic cooperation, while Gyeonggi Province has successfully implemented cooperation in rice farming with North Korea. The first outcome of such cooperation was the import of the “Gyeonggi-Pyongyang Rice” brand from the North on Jan. 5, the first of its kind in 22 years. This year, Gyeonggi Province will further upgrade the pilot project on rice farming to a higher level by conducting rice farming in Gangnam County of Pyongyang, and enlarge the farming area to 100 hectares (about 990,000 sq. meters) from current three hectares. 

Meanwhile, domestic and foreign news media are showing increasing interest in the fact that during his recent visit to China, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il visited a special economic zone in Guangzhou and tried to attract investment from Chinese corporations to North Korea. In an article he posted on his homepage on Jan. 15, Governor Sohn said, “With Chairman Kim Jong-il’s visit to China lending momentum, many people presume that North Korea will likely present a second blueprint for its reforms. Taking advantage of this opportunity, we should help North Korea implement reform and open its door, and join the international community.”