Seoul needs to
send 'strategic materials' to
North
SEOUL - The government is
studying ways for South Korean companies that will move
into an industrial complex in the North Korean city of
Kaesong, to use production equipment and materials there
without violating regulations against the export of
"strategic materials" to the communist state, officials
said Monday.
North Korea is classified as a
"dangerous country" by international and US export
control laws, so exports of computers, semiconductors
and other electronics materials that could be used for
military purposes to the country are strictly banned.
Under the Wassenaar Arrangement, which replaced
the Cold War era's Coordinating Committee for Export
Control to Communist Areas in 1996, companies of
signatory countries that export such items classified as
strategic materials would be sanctioned for years.
The regulations deepen worries of the Seoul
government because computers with Pentium processors are
essential for office work, but are not produced in North
Korea.
Among the 15 South Korean companies
selected to move into the pilot site of the Kaesong
industrial park, which was completed in late June and is
to begin production by the end of this year, were
semiconductor and electronics companies.
They
are awaiting a reply after submitting to the government
lists of production equipment and materials to be sent
to the pilot site, officials said.
The lists
were sent to the South Korea ministries of foreign
affairs and unification and the US Department of
Commerce.
The US and South Korean governments
are scheduled to discuss the strategic materials listed
after separate reviews.
"Since the users of the
production equipment are South Korean companies, there
is no possibility that the materials will be used by
North Korea," a government official said on condition of
anonymity. "We're studying ways to manage the equipment
and materials to be sent to the Kaesong complex in a
transparent manner, because there is still room for
misunderstanding."
Among the measures under
consideration are securing the computers on desks,
having the companies use only portable computers and
installing a sustainable monitoring system, the official
said.
"Above all, (ensuring) transparency is
important, and we will fully explain our position to the
US side," another government official said. "I think
there will be no major problems, because the United
States basically doesn't oppose the Kaesong project and
will cooperate," he said.
The industrial
complex, being built by Korea Land and Hyundai Asan of
South Korea, is one of the most prominent symbols of
inter-Korean reconciliation set in motion by the
first-ever summit of the leaders of the two countries in
2000.
The companies are scheduled to open the
main complex to hundreds of South Korean manufacturers
in the first half of next year.
(Asia
Pulse/Yonhap)
Aug 24, 2004
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