According to the Ministry of Unification, the amount of visits to and trade with North Korea actually increased by 7.9% and 13.9% respectively in 2010 compared with 2009, in spite of the May 24th Measures following the Cheonan incident.
The increase in visits to North Korea was apparently mainly due to increased traffic to the Kaesong Industrial Complex. The total number of visits to the Complex last year was 123,023, compared with 111,811 in 2009, a 7.9% rise.
Besides visits rooted in the economic sphere, social and cultural exchanges and aid worker visits were also recorded; 1,773 such visits in 2010, a decrease of 23.3% compared with the 2009 figure of 2,313. This, more than the economic visits increase, represents the true result of the May 24th Measures.
Regarding these numbers, a spokesperson for the Ministry said today, “Despite the drastic drop in the count of visits to North Korea in the non-economic sphere, this percentage rise was made possible since comings and goings related to the Kaesong Complex exceeded the previous year’s scale.”
Trade with the North in 2010 reached approximately $1.912 billion, according to the figures, an increase of 13.9% on the 2009 figure of $1.679 billion.
This increase was also due to the growth of trade in the Kaesong Complex. The percentage of Kaesong Complex-related trade out of the total trade volume was 75.5%, approximately $1.443 billion, while the 2009 amount was $940.55 million. Therefore, Kaesong-related trade increased by 53.4% from 2009. Right now, 122 South Korean companies are stationed in the Complex with around 600 South Korean workers in managerial or administrative positions.
However, general trade and processing trade were hit hard by the May 24th Measures.
The spokesperson revealed, “General trade was worth $117.86 million, a decrease of 54% on 2009, and processing trade was worth $317.56 million, a decrease of 22.5% from trade worth $497.1 million in 2009.”
