According to Yohnap:
Production at the Kaesong complex reached US$27 million in October, up 12.1 percent from $24 million a month earlier, the Unification Ministry said. The October figure also represents a 16.9 percent increase from a year ago.
The overall increase was attributed notably to strong output from machinery and electronics manufacturers, which climbed 26.2 percent and 25.5 percent, respectively. Foodstuff and textile goods also enjoyed 24.9 percent and 8.6 percent increases, respectively.
Exports from the complex, however, shrank 9.1 percent from a month ago to $3.11 million, mostly due to a decline in machinery shipments, according to the ministry.
There are currently 116 South Korean firms operating in Kaesong, matching their capital and technology with the cheap but skilled labor of 42,000 North Korean employees.
Read the full article below:
Production at Kaesong complex rises in October
Yonhap
12/29/2009
How could production increase and exports decrease? I thought that all the production was oriented for exporting.
North Korea purchase part of the production?
I had to think about this for a second myself. I believe that when the article refers to “exports” it refers to goods that are “exported” from South Korea.The goods made in Kaesong do not count as normal South Korean imports in their own trade accounts. Therefore total production sent to South Korea is up, but the value shipped from South Korea to the rest of the world has fallen.