Harvard to study Gaeseong complex
Harvard to study Gaeseong complex
Harvard Business School will include Gaeseong industrial complex in its curriculum starting next spring, a Korean government official said.
The school’s required course, Business Government & International Economy, will discuss the flagship inter-Korean economic project during the first semester of 2009, Yeo Han-koo, an official of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, said.
“This is the first time that a western MBA course deals with the Gaeseong industrial complex in a class,” he said.
“The case of Gaeseong industrial complex will include foreigners’ investment in the industrial park and the rules of origin in the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement and inter-Korean economic cooperation,” Yeo told The Korea Herald by telephone.
Although there are nearly 70 South Korean firms operating in the Gaeseong complex, there is only one foreign company — the German auto parts maker Prettl, which has begun constructing a factory.
Gaeseong industrial complex, where the South’s capital and technology is combined with the North’s labor, was established in the North Korean border city of Gaeseong as a result of the landmark inter-Korean summit in 2000.
Yeo, a graduate of Harvard Business School, said he is writing reading materials on the case with two professors of the school. The materials are tentatively named “Penetrating capitalism into North Korea: Gaesong industrial complex.”
The two professors, Eric Werker and Dante Roscini, will be responsible for the class. They visited Korea last week to collect data and information on the inter-Korean project. They visited not only government ministries and public and private think tanks, but also companies doing business in the industrial park, Yeo said.
By Jin Hyun-joo (hjjin@heraldm.com)
The Korea Herald
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