published Sep 24, 2018 9:21:32 PM, by Sohee Kim
(Bloomberg) —

North Korea signaled it wants investments from South Korean companies to help modernize the secluded country, said a top executive in the business delegation that visited Pyongyang last week.

North Korea wants to have economic cooperation and technical assistance from the South, Sohn Kyung-shik, the 79-year-old co-chairman of CJ Group and the head of the Korea Employers Federation, told Bloomberg Television’s Shery Ahn in an interview. “What they really want are investments to set up industry there,” he said.

Sohn’s comments reflect optimism in the wake of last week’s summit between North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and South Korea’s Moon Jae-in and as the communist country negotiates with the U.S. over its nuclear weapons arsenal.

But many hurdles remain, as the North and South are technically still at war. Conducting business with North Korea is heavily restricted by United Nations sanctions.

Sohn accompanied Moon and was part of a South Korean business delegation that included Samsung Group Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee and LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo. They met with the North’s Vice Premier Ri Ryong Nam, who’s in charge of economic affairs. Samsung’s Lee said then that he hoped the meeting would turn into an opportunity to build trust.
“They really want to have economic cooperation with South Korea,” Sohn said. “But we didn’t make any big commitments so far.”

Earlier this month, South Korea opened a liaison office at an industrial park it sponsors in the North Korean city of Gaeseong, allowing officials from both countries to communicate around-the-clock for the first time since the start of the Korean War. In 2016, rising tensions led to closure of the complex, where more than 120 South Korean companies were operating.

To read more on North Korea… Moon’s broader political tasks involving North Korea QuickTake explainer on the nuclear situation Spotlight on Samsung’s involvement BusinessWeek cover story on North Korea’s business opportunities

President Donald Trump and Moon signed a free-trade agreement Monday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, the first major trade deal the U.S. president has forged amid rising trade tensions. The two leaders also discussed continuing sanctions against North Korea.

As to CJ, whose businesses range from foods to entertainment, the group sees opportunities in North Korea’s food and logistics industries, Sohn said.

Moon and Kim agreed last week to meet again so that the two Koreas can work on specifying steps toward denuclearization and the resumption of economic projects such as the Mount Kumgang tours and the Gaeseong industrial park.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sohee Kim in Seoul at skim847@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net ;Daniel Ten Kate at dtenkate@bloomberg.net Dave McCombs, Jeff Sutherland

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