South Korean companies urged to invest in North

South Korean companies looking to cut costs by moving factories to China or Vietnam should consider investing in North Korea, said Park Seung, governor of South Korea’s central bank. “The hollowing-out of Korea’s manufacturing sector is now proceeding at a very fast pace,” Park said in the text of a speech earmarked for the Asia Society in New York. “South Korean firms should relocate their labour-intensive industrial facilities, not just in the Gaesong Industrial Complex, which is now being constructed, but throughout the whole of North Korea.” Cheaper wages, land prices and a lower corporate tax rate make a very good case for South Korean companies to relocate production in North Korea. Overseas investment by South Korean companies climbed 39% in the first quarter to $1.5 billion, with almost half of that going to China, official figures show.

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, the world’s second-largest shipbuilder, said it might open five or six new overseas shipyards in eastern Asia in five years to maintain

competitiveness.