Kaesong golf course under consideration

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Kaesong golf course under consideration

North Korea is in talks with a South Korean company other than Hyundai Asan Corp. for a golf course business in Kaesong, the Unification Ministry said yesterday.
Hyundai Asan, a Hyundai Group affiliate, holds an exclusive right to do business in North Korea.
According to the ministry, Unico, a real estate developer based in Daegu, signed an agreement with North Korea’s Asia Pacific Peace Committee to rent two sites near Kaesong Industrial Complex to build golf courses.
Under the contract, the North Korean committee will lease the two sites, one in the southwest and the other in the north, for $40 million over the next five decades.
Along with the golf courses, Unico plans to establish hotels and other entertainment facilities, said the ministry.
However, the same sites are part of the 16,337 acres of land that Hyundai Asan was allowed to use after reaching an accord with the North in 2000. The Korean company is in the middle of building an industrial complex on 816 acres.
Building golf courses on the sites Unico made a deal on was on Hyundai’s agenda for next year.
“The right to run a golf course business there belongs to us, as we forged the contract first,” said a senior executive from Hyundai Asan.
The company began consultations with Unico yesterday over the golf courses in the North, according to the source.
“If Unico comes up with an appropriate business proposal, we can let the company be a business partner,” he added.
A high-ranking manager from Unico said the company pushed ahead with the project as North Korea explained Hyundai Asan has the right to businesses in Kaesong Industrial Complex only.
The Unification Ministry said it would consider approving the golf course business in North Korea only if North Korea, Hyundai Asan and Unico reach a compromise.


by Kwon Hyuk-joo
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