NORTH KOREA

Foreigners Can Now Lease, Use Land: The government said it has adopted a law that for the first time will allow foreign corporations and individuals to lease and use its land. The law permits the use and lease of land by resident foreigners, the official Korean Central News Agency said. Also, Koreans living overseas may now lease and use North Korean land. The leases would have a maximum life of 50 years, in keeping with North Korea’s law on investment by foreigners, the news agency said. A law announced in October, 1992, allows foreign investors to establish equity and contractual joint ventures within North Korea and to set up and operate wholly foreign-owned enterprises in a free economic and trade zone on the Tumen River, at the border with China and Russia.