By Reuben Staines
Staff Reporter

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young will Wednesday seek U.S. approval to allow the export of currently banned high-tech equipment to the Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea _ the final obstacle in the road to local companies moving into the inter-Korean business zone.

Currently visiting the United States to discuss the North Korean nuclear standoff and various bilateral issues, Chung is scheduled to meet with Kenneth Juster, U.S. under secretary of commerce for industry and security, to discuss Washington’s concerns over the Kaesong project, according to Unification Ministry officials.

``He will take every opportunity to bring up the issue during his meetings with high-ranking U.S. officials,’’ a ministry spokeswoman said. The minister is also due to meet U.S. State Secretary Colin Powell, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.

Chung is expected to ask the U.S. to make an exception for Kaesong-bound firms, allowing them to take equipment into the North that is restricted under the Wassenaar Arrangement. The arrangement, signed by 33 nations including South Korea, aims to block the flow of ``strategic products’’ into countries listed as supporting terrorism, such as North Korea.

While the ban focuses on commercial weapons, it also covers ``dual use’’ goods such as computers and telecommunications equipment. A number of the 15 firms scheduled to move into the industrial complex as part of a pilot program starting later this year have complained that the restriction will severely limit their commercial operations in the North.

Seoul has been trying to persuade the U.S. that South Korean firms will be the end-users of the exported items and potentially dangerous equipment will not fall into North Korean hands, a Unification Ministry official explained. The ministry on Monday established a Strategic Trade Information Center to screen items being sent to Kaesong.

Although Washington has said it agrees in principle with making an exception to the ban, some experts in Seoul believe it may withhold full approval, particularly given the stalling in talks over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs.

However, Ban Ki-moon, minister of foreign affairs and trade, on Monday said he is optimistic of a positive U.S. response. He said an initial review by Washington found that most of the goods the South Korean firms plan to take into Kaesong are not affected by the Wassenaar Arrangement.

``After an initial review of the list of items to be brought out of the country, the United States has reached a conclusion that most goods are irrelevant to the regulation,’’ Ban said.

The Foreign Minister believed working-level discussions between Washington and Seoul over the issue are making progress.

The Kaesong Industrial Complex, located 8 kilometers north of the Demilitarized Zone, is one of three significant inter-Korean economic projects to emerge since Seoul’s adoption of a ``sunshine’’ policy towards Pyongyang.

After five years of planning, landscaping got underway on the 6,500-hectare site in June last year.

Fifteen South Korean companies will move into the pilot section by the end of this year, with more than 2,000 expected to follow by 2020. The project is jointly run by Hyundai Asan and the state-run Korea Land Corp.

North Korea has shown a cooperative attitude towards the project despite inter-Korean relations being strained by recent mass defections to the South. Last month it announced a set of regulations securing land rights for South Korean firms that move into the complex.

rjs@koreatimes.co.kr