Experiment Combines Souths Technology With Norths Labor

By Kim Suk-hi

DETROIT ― On June 5, 2008, I had the pleasure of visiting the Gaeseong Industrial Complex (GIC) located in North Korea just across the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), along with some 70 potential investors and tourists.

This was a landmark journey for me. It was the first time I had ever visited North Korea. When I visit South Korea, all I have to do is take a flight to Seoul with my U.S. passport.

However, in order to visit the complex, I had to submit a photo, a copy of my passport, and other documents. Thus, I was clearly able to see that South and North Korea are two very different countries, even if they are both descendents of the same founding father.

I felt very nervous when a North Korean escort jeep showed up just after our bus crossed the DMZ. During U.S. President Bill Clinton's visit to the DMZ in 1994, he called it the scariest place on Earth. The basic structure of this national division has not changed much since then.

In fact, many experts still regard the DMZ as the world's most dangerous place. However, I soon regained my peace of mind when I realized that the industrial park is a large-scale economic project undertaken by both Korean governments.

It was only an hour's bus ride from Seoul to Gaeseong ― the two cities are only 60 km apart. The complex, just six miles from the world's last Cold War frontier, is an ambitious experiment that combines South Korean technology and management expertise with North Korea's cheap and highly educated labor.

Once our bus arrived at the complex, I saw factories with rows of women in white blazers and a range of facilities for workers. Besides the factories, the facilities for South Korean workers and visitors include a branch of Seoul's Woori Bank and a Family Mart convenience store that sells South Korean snacks, beer, and toiletries in exchange for U.S. dollars.

Although I was only in the complex for a few hours, it was noticeable that the South and the North Koreans mingled together, worked together, and, talked to each other. In addition, it was rewarding to have brief conversations with several staff members of the GIC Management Committee, some South Korean investors, and even some North Koreans.

Based on my brief observations of the everyday workings of the complex, it was difficult for me to believe that two Koreas have been each other's number one enemy for almost 60 years. On our return bus ride to Seoul, my conviction that Koreans on both sides of the DMZ could live together peacefully in a unified country someday grew ever stronger.