North Korea Neighbor Betting It Needs Choco Pies to Broadband
- Lotte creates task force to prepare for possible push north
- Hyundai studying reopening of Gaeseong industrial complex
North Koreans used to be wealthier than the Chinese, but now they’re significantly poorer. Here’s how it happened.
As optimism builds about a nuclear-free Korean peninsula, companies from the Hyundai Group to the retail-giant Lotte Group that makes Choco Pies are preparing to expand into North Korea, the world’s most isolated economy -- someday.
Tuesday’s summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in Singapore raised expectations that economic sanctions against the communist country could be eased and its economy opened. The two leaders signed a declaration that North Korea would work toward “complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” a goal that could eventually lead to North Korea’s economic integration with neighbors, though sanctions will be remain for now.