UN chief set to visit North Korea industrial zone
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has announced his planned visit to an inter-Korean factory park located north of the two Koreas' border.
Ban confirmed his plan to travel to the Kaesong joint industrial zone during a press conference on Tuesday at the World Education Forum, which under way in the South Korean port of Incheon.
The UN chief said he would meet the North Korean workers and visit some of the South Korean companies at the zone, which is located a few kilometers just north of the heavily fortified inter-Korean border.
He also highlighted the significance of the zone for building mutual trust and promoting inter-Korean relations.
"The Kaesong project is a win-win model for both Koreas," media outlets quoted Ban as saying, adding, "It symbolizes a good way to tap the advantages of the Koreas in a complementary manner."
Ban last visited Kaesong in 2006 when he was serving as South Korea's foreign minister.
The UN chief also reiterated his intention to visit the North Korean capital of Pyongyang at an appropriate time in the near future.
The Kaesong industrial complex accounts for nearly all of trade between North and South, which totaled about USD 2.3 billion last year.
The South Korean government gives firms in Kaesong, which opened in 2004, cheap labor, preferential loans and tax breaks.
North Korea shut down the industrial zone for five months in 2013 after it pulled out its workers amid a surge in military tensions between the two neighbors.
JR/KA
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