Zone open for business Monday

SHENYANG, China -- Foreigners will be able to travel freely to Sinuiju beginning Monday, the minister for the North Korean special district, Yang Bin, told the press Friday in Shenyang. Visitors are welcome "regardless of nationality and as long as the person holds a valid passport," he said.

Mr. Yang said that he would be in Seoul on Oct. 7 to begin drawing business investment to the northwestern region. The visit is on the invitation of the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he said. "I hope to meet as many South Korean businessmen as possible and to promote investment in Sinuiju." No special benefits await Korean firms choosing to do business in Sinuiju, Mr. Yang said, but Koreans may be able to form their own industrial complex there.

Passage to Sinuiju for any nationals would be through the Chinese city of Dandong on the banks of the Yalu River, he said. Entry into North Korea from there would be visa-free.

Sources in Dandong told the JoongAng Ilbo that relocation of Sinuiju residents to make room for new developments as part of the special district will begin with the transfer of the provincial office from the northern part of the city to South Sinuiju about the end of the year.

South Sinuiju is a relatively new development begun about a decade ago under the direction of North Korea's former leader, Kim Il Sung, the sources said. Development thereafter stalled until it resumed in earnest about two years ago.

The relocation of the provincial office will be followed by the move of the Sinuiju People's Committee, equivalent to the city hall. The North Pyeongang province security agency, equivalent to a police agency, and the Sinuiju security agency will follow.

Relocation of the residents of Sinuiju would take place some time in the spring of 2003, the sources said. The move of the provincial office will not begin before the classification of the residents to decide who stays and who goes. About 200,000 residents of the northern Sinuiju district will remain -- people with no negative history in their personal records and those who have experience working in consumer goods manufacturing.

There are an estimated 600,000 residents of Sinuiju, the south Sinuiju development and the immediate surrounding areas.

by Choi Hyung-kyu, Ko Soo-suk