Eight out of 10 South Korean companies intend to do business in North Korea after unification, a recent survey found Monday, with resource development and infrastructure building cited as their key interests.

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently conducted the survey on its 500 member companies. Of them, 87.2 percent responded they were willing to carry out North Korea-related projects when the two Koreas are unified. 

Gaeseong and Haeju, both located near Gyeonggi Province, were picked by 42.3 percent of the respondents as their most favored regions for business, followed by the North’s capital area, including Pyeongyang and Nampo.

Resource development was the most attractive sector with 28.4 percent of respondents showing interest, followed by infrastructure building (22.1 percent), manufacturing (22.1 percent) and logistics (18.7 percent).

Most of the respondents said they back unification for economic and security reasons. But 70.7 percent said no progress has been seen in related government discussions.

Amid the inter-Korea stalemate, 62 percent said they could consider visiting North Korea if there is a request from them, while 38 percent still showed reluctance to do so.

“The private sector could join hands to resolve the current strained ties. Things like job training and exchange of technical know-how would be helpful to pave the way for future inter-Korea cooperation,” said Kim Byung-yeon, professor at Seoul National University.

The chamber also hinted that it could play a role in inducing North Korean business to join the global community more actively.

“China and Taiwan that suffered a division during the same period have increased exchanges and removed tariffs and trade barriers since 2011. But we have seen no progress for 70 years,” said a KCCI official.

He added the chamber would seek to find ways to increase exchanges with its North Korean counterpart. 

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)