SEOUL, Dec. 6 (Yonhap) -- Top executives of more than 120 South Korean companies operating in the Kaesong Industrial Complex plan to meet in the North's border city this week, in the first such meeting to discuss pending inter-Korean business issues, an organizer said Tuesday.

   The CEO conference is scheduled to bring together the heads or local representatives of 123 South Korean firms and other related officials on Wednesday, said Bae Won-joo, one of the organizers of the meeting.

   A Unification Ministry official said the meeting was designed to discuss issues related to the operation of the industrial complex. He did not give further details and asked not to identified, citing office policy.

   The inaugural meeting comes as tensions linger on the Korean Peninsula after two deadly attacks by North Korea on the South last year.

   South Korea has been seeking flexibility in policies toward the North to try to improve their strained relations. North Korea recently stepped up its harsh rhetoric against South Korea, however, and threatened to turn Seoul's presidential office into "a sea of fire."

   Despite this tension, the divided Koreas have kept intact the shared complex in Kaesong, a project that marries South Korean capital and technology with cheap labor from the North.

   South Korean companies produce clothes, utensils and watches, as well as electronic and machinery parts at the complex, employing more than 47,000 North Korean workers.

   The Kaesong complex has become the last symbol of inter-Korean rapprochement, which formerly boomed following a 2000 summit between the leaders of the two Koreas.

   The project serves as a key legitimate cash cow for North Korea.

   entropy@yna.co.kr
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