Roh to Present Wristwatch to Kim
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
President Roh Moo-hyun will present a Gaeseong-made wristwatch to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to highlight the achievement of cross-border economic cooperation, a Cheong Wa Dae spokesman said Tuesday.
Roh took nine sets of watches manufactured by South Korea's Romanson company, which has a factory at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex in North Korea, to Pyongyang, Kim Jung-sup, vice spokesman for Cheong Wa Dae, said.
``The President and first lady were heading to Pyongyang wearing Romanson watches, a symbol of inter-Korean business cooperation,'' Kim said at the press center in the Lotte Hotel, central Seoul. ``Roh plans to present one set to Chairman Kim and the others to North Korean officials.''
``By wearing and presenting the symbol of inter-Korean business cooperation, President Roh is expressing his will to achieve co-prosperity for the two Koreas,'' Kim added.
The watch's model number is TM7238L and its price tag is 198,000 won ($217), according to Romanson officials.
The joint industrial park, just north of the heavily fortified border, is considered one of the main achievements of the historic summit between the two Koreas in 2000. The zone is called a testing ground for mixing South Korean capitalism and technology with the North's cheap labor.
More than 23 South Korean companies produce goods ranging from clothes to kitchenware there, employing about 15,000 North Korean workers. The number of North Korean employees is expected to increase further when the factory facility becomes fully operational by 2012.
Monthly production in the complex is valued in excess of $10 million.