President Kim Hails West Coast as Hub for Inter-Korean Exchanges

President Kim Dae-jung Thursday asked a provincial government situated along the Yellow Sea to ready for enhanced inter-Korean exchanges that will take place mainly along the peninsula's western coastal industrial zones.
"Once inter-Korean relations charge full steam ahead, the western coastal area is where contact and exchanges with North Korea will take place," President Kim said in Taejon, South Chungchong Province. The province is the second stop in his inspection tour of the nation's 16 municipal and provincial governments, started Sept. 27.
"I urge you, the businessmen and government officials of the South Chungchong area, to prepare to be a hub for west coast industrial zones serving the two Koreas," he said.
Following the debriefing by the provincial government, the president attended the naming ceremony of the Taedok Valley, a Silicon Valley-like town in the region, where he promised to increase the current 4.1 percent to 5 percent of the government budget allocated for research and development.

by Kim Jin-kook