WP: North Korea’s decreasing isolation

The Washington Post has an interesting article about closer ties between North and South Korean businesses and the South Korea’s increasingly positive attitude toward their brothers across the border. Some interesting points:

Despite U.S. Attempts, N. Korea Anything but Isolated
Country’s Regional Trade Boom Hints At Split Between Administration, E. Asia

North Korean housewares are the rage these days. The Lotte department store sold out its first shipment of North Korean pots and pans last December and followed up with a bigger sale in January, when another 7,000 pieces of cookware were carted off by eager shoppers. Lee, 39, is now working on the store’s largest North Korean venture yet: New lines of cutlery and frying pans go on sale within the next two weeks.

South Korea, China and Russia have increased their trade with the North, boosting its tattered economy. Fueled by imports of energy and manufactured goods, and exports of minerals, seafood and agricultural products, North Korea’s foreign trade increased 22 percent in two years, from $2.9 billion in 2002 to $3.55 billion in 2004; these levels are the highest since 1991, according to KOTRA, a South Korean government organization that monitors North Korean trade.

Analysts say North Korea may be calculating that if the United States increases pressure, Pyongyang’s other benefactors in Asia may be willing to mend fences, even after a nuclear test.

As recently as Tuesday, China rejected economic sanctions and said it hoped for a negotiated settlement on North Korea’s nuclear program.

“We have lots of reasons for wanting to do business in North Korea; the labor costs are lower than in South Korea or China and a North Korean worker pretty much does what he is told,” said Oh Jung Min, executive director of El Canto, a shoemaker that became one of the first South Korean companies to cross the border when it invested in a Pyongyang factory in 1997.

“But stronger relations with North Korea is also good for South Korea’s future,” he said. “The last thing we want is for them to be our enemies.”