Korea Times
Jung Sung-ki
4/20/2007
A National Assembly panel Friday approved a bill to give full-fledged support to domestic firms operating in the inter-Korean industrial park in the North Korean border city of Kaesong under South Korean law.
The Assembly’s Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee endorsed the bill under which South Korean companies in the Kaesong complex are to receive financial support from the government.
Under the bill, companies concerned will get government funds for infrastructure in the industrial zone and be subject to tax reduction in case of investment in the North.
South Korean insurance acts and other labor-related laws will cover employees under the bills.
The complex is a symbol of the South’s engagement policy toward the North and cross-border reconciliation, along with the South-led tourism program at Mt. Kumgang in North Korea.
About 20 South Korean firms are operating in the joint complex employing more than 13,000 North Korean workers.
