*** NEWS IN BRIEF

N. Korea Accepts U.S. Request for Talks on Remains Recovery

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea said on Aug. 19 it has accepted a request by the United States for talks on resuming remains recovery for American troops killed during the 1950-53 Korean War.

   North Korea "affirmatively" accepted the recent U.S. offer from "humanitarianism," a spokesman for the North's Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a comment carried by the country's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

   The militaries of the two countries are working to arrange the talks, he said, without elaborating.

   Nearly 8,000 U.S. service members are listed as missing from the war and the remains of more than half of them are estimated to be buried in the socialist nation.

   The U.S. has recovered more than 220 sets of remains since 1996, but it halted joint recovery efforts with North Korea in 2005, citing the safety and security concerns of its workers.

   The North announced its latest conciliatory gesture toward the U.S. just hours after Washington offered $900,000 in emergency aid to flood-ravaged North Korea.

   The North has recently said it might hold a reunion of Korean-Americans with family members they left behind in the North during the war.

   The rare moves came a month after North Korea's senior diplomat met with his American counterpart in rare high-level talks in New York on how to resume long-stalled talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs.

   The North has long sought to improve relations with the U.S. and sign a peace treaty to formally end decades of enmity since the war, which ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.

  
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N. Korea Committed to Protecting Foreign Investments: Scholar

YANJI Aug. 21 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is committed to protecting foreign investment made at the Rason special economic zone as part of its efforts to attract more overseas support, a North Korea scholar said on Aug. 21.

   In a lecture given in Yanji in China's Jilin Province, Kimilsung University professor Kim Cheol-woong claimed under North Korea's Constitution and the 2008 foreign investment law, foreign investors' rights and privileges will be strictly respected.

   He said Pyongyang had passed additional acts specifically concerning the Rason region on the country's northeastern coast that clearly demonstrate the socialist country's efforts to protect investment rights, permit full repatriation of generated profits and prohibit the seizure and nationalization of foreign assets.

   The North designated Rason as a special economic zone in 1991 and has since tried to develop it into a regional transportation hub due to its close proximity to both China and Russia. But no major progress has been made so far, mainly due to bad industrial and transportation infrastructure. In June, North Korea and China broke ground on a joint project to develop Rason as an economic and trade zone, while Russia signed a long-term deal to lease part of the port for its companies.

   Kim added that in the event of a natural disaster or other uncontrollable developments, North Korea would fully compensate investors.

   Experts at the lecture said that special laws protecting foreign investment rights were announced last year, but moves to highlight them again can be seen as a sign that Pyongyang is making an effort to attract foreign businesses to revive its moribund economy.

   It may also be an effort to assure outsiders that, despite the recent seizure of South Korean business holdings in the scenic Mount Kumgang region, the country wants to attract more foreign investors.

   The investment in Mount Kumgang, estimated to be worth 300 billion won (US$276 million), was launched in 1998 as part of the inter-Korean reconciliation effort that began under former President Kim Dae-hung. The program, however, was suspended in 2008 after North Korean guards shot and killed a South Korean tourist.

  
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Premier Choe Yong-rim Visits Pyongyang-Nampho Roadwork Sites

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korean Premier Choe Yong-rim made spot inspections on Pyongyang-Nampho roadwork sites and discussed with workers ways to provide raw materials for the project, the North's media said on Aug. 22.

   "After going round various places of the project, he held a consultative meeting of officials concerned on the spot," the KCNA said.

   The KCNA also said that "discussed at the meeting were the measures for finishing the project on the highest level in a brief span of time and substantially supplying raw materials for the project at relevant fields."

   Earlier, the Rodong Sinmun, the official organ of the North's ruling Workers' Party, on Aug. 18 said repair work of the Pyongyang-Nampho old road is now under way at a faster pace.

   Premier Choe has been making brisk inspections on industrial facilities and other economic sectors so far this year.

  
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First-ever International Trade Fair Held in Rason City

SEOUL (Yonhap)-- The first Rason International Trade Fair opened on Aug. 22 in Rason City in a bid to attract foreign investments, the North's media said.

   The fair, scheduled to run until Aug. 25, "offers a glimpse of the bright prospect of international economic cooperation and trade through Rason," the KCNA said the same day.

   Rason City is an economic trade zone in the northeastern part of North Korea bordering China and Russia.
According to the North's news media, the fair was attended by about 110 companies from Russia, China, the United States, Italy, Taiwan and Australia.

   The participating companies will exhibit machines, electronic goods, vehicles and other products during the fair, the KCNA said.

   One day later, a seminar was held in Rason City to attract foreign investments. Screens at the seminar displayed the Rason economic and trade zone law and management regulations for foreign participants on the sidelines of the exhibition, the North's news outlet said.

   "The economic and tourist infrastructure construction has made headway in the zone, providing conditions favorable for foreign businesses' investment, production and trade," the KCNA quoted Ri Ju-il, director of the Economic Cooperation Department of the Rason City People's Committee, as saying. "We will invigorate many-sided contacts and transactions with foreign businesses to achieve the development and prosperity of the Rason Economic and Trade Zone."

   According to reports released by the KCNA, North Korea has adopted "a preferential tariff system" for foreign investors and traders for the project and has planned to upgrade three ports in Rason such as Rajin, Sonbong and Ungsang.

   North Korea also plans to raise the traffic capacity of ports and roads, replacing the existing railways with modern and high-speed ones.

   Rason City was designated as a special city after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il visited the city in December 2009 for the first time since it was named a free trade zone in December 1991.

  
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AP Delegation Visits North Korea

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- A delegation of The Associated Press (AP) flew into Pyongyang on Aug. 23, North Korea's media said.

   The AP delegation was led by Vice President John Daniszewski, the (North) Korea Central News Agency said, without referring to the purpose of the delegation's visit to North Korea.

   Tom Curley, president and CEO of the AP, told Yonhap News Agency on Aug. 22 that the delegation will visit the socialist country to work out the specifics of the agreement to expand its operations.

   On June 28 in New York, the AP and the KCNA signed a series of agreements including the establishment of a comprehensive AP news bureau in Pyongyang.

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