S. Korea & N. Korea is Promoting the Joint Operation of Internet Site

Interchange of industrial technology between South Korea and North Korea will be active.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy(MOCIE) and Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information(KISTI) on August 23, KISTI will make the memorandum of understanding (MOU) for cooperation and interchange of industrial technology with Korean Central Science & Technology Center (‘Center’) under control of Pyeongyang National Academy of Sciences in North Korea within the year.

When the MOU will be entered into and made, the South and North Korea will exchange information on industrial technology and will progress the technological service and a joint business together.

Also, KISTI and Intelligence Agency will move forward with a plan to open the Internet site jointly for activation of technology interchange between them.

The Internet site contains a corner of ‘Recent trend of North Korea Industrial Technology(tentative name). Both of them are reviewing positively the measure for the joint site management.

The Agency made contact with KISTI to meet together in Dandong China at the beginning of the next month for a practical discussion on MOU conclusion and the site operation.

The Agency is interested in selling the technology related to foods & medical supplies and partial IT such as a voice recognition technology of the North Korea, and in producing the product with Korean companies jointly.

As the result of a survey investigation for 500 domestic companies which are or interchanging or will interchange with the North Korea conducted by KISTI, 65.8% of them answered, “the increase of sales is expected owing to the interchange of the industrial technology between two Koreas’. Domestic companies have cooperated positively in progressing this field.

Jeong Hae-Sun, the chief of technology transfer evaluation, KISTI said “Domestic companies and the Agency are interested in the interchange of industrial technology. If there is no unexpected unfavorable factor, they will promote it as expected”.

Ja-Ryong Koo bonhong@donga.com