NORTH KOREA

Workers From North Hired: Bidding to increase economic cooperation with South Korea, the Pyongyang government has decided to allow North Koreans to accept jobs offered by certain South Korean companies. The South Korean-based Daewoo Business Group is planning to replace 20,000 foreign workers employed on its overseas projects with North Koreans on a step-by-step basis. The company will begin the hiring program by placing a group of North Korean workers on a highway construction project in Pakistan within the next six months. Daewoo also plans to hire North Korean construction workers for company projects in Libya, Iran, Sudan, Tanzania, Cameroon and Nigeria. The North Korean government has been holding talks with South Korean industrialists. Pyongyang has expressed interest in forming manufacturing joint ventures with South Korean firms to produce goods for export.