North and South Korea agreed on Saturday to conduct a one-day field study in January on establishing a joint economic area in and around the North’s border port city of Haeju, a joint statement said.
The agreement came at the end of two days of talks at Gaesong, another North Korean border city with South Korea. The Gaesong talks were called to discuss ways to implement agreements reached at a summit of the two countries’ top leaders in October.
Haeju, a major port on the North’s west coast, is about 75 kilometers from Gaesong where South Korea is running a joint industrial park for its small-size garment and other labor-intensive plants.
According to the six-point joint statement, the joint study will be conducted on Jan. 31.
The Haeju project, if pushed through, will be a second industrial zone to be developed by South Korea in its communist neighbor. Currently, over 50 South Korean plants are producing some $19 million worth of goods a month at the Gaeseong Industrial Park, a byproduct of a historic inter-Korean summit in 2000.
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