SOUTH KOREA

Joint North-South Ventures Set: South and North Korea have agreed to pursue joint manufacturing projects as a follow-up to their recent reconciliation agreement, a business leader said. Kim Woo-choong, chairman of South Korea’s Daewoo business group, said North Korea’s leaders agreed to set up joint ventures to produce textiles, toys and other consumer goods. He said Pyongyang also wanted to form ventures to manufacture electronic goods and develop mineral resources. Kim, whose company is South Korea’s fourth-largest conglomerate, made his comments after returning from the first official visit by a South Korean businessman to North Korea.