Kaesong - Economy

Economy

With its topography, climate, soil conditions, Kaesong has advantageous natural conditions for agricultural productions. The water supply system is established with 18 reservoirs including Songdo Reservoir built for agricultural advances and about 150 pumping stations as well as hundreds of dammed pools. The cultivated land accounts for the 27 percentage of Kaesong, and rice, maize, soybeans, wheat, and barley are the main crops. Among them, rice production accounts for the 60 percentage of the whole grain production, and Kaepung and Panmun are the two primary regions, producing more than 70 percentage of the rice production. In addition, vegetable and fruit cultivation including peach, apple and persimmon, livestock farming, and sericulture are active. Peach is a local specialty of Kaesong, and especially white peach is famous, so the production of the latter accounts for more than 25 percentage of the gross fruit production. The counties of Kaepung-gun and Panmun-gun are also known for the good quality of Korean ginseng called Goryeo Insam, and the active ginseng cultivation. The processing and exporting the product take place around the counties.

Kaesŏng is DPRK’s light industry centre. The urban district is equipped with a jewel processing factory, ginseng processing factory and an embroidery factory. Since the Goryeo period, Kaesong had been a center of handcrafts such as Goryeo porcelain, and commerce while the textile industry has been the primary business along with the production of grocery goods, daily general goods, and ginseng products after the division into the two states. The food processing industry ranks the right next to the textile business, mainly producing jang (soybean-based condiments), oil, canned foods, alcoholic beverages, soft drinks and others. In addition, resin, timber, handicrafts, pottery, shoes, school supplies, musical instruments, and glass are produced. Kaesong has factories for producing agricultural machines and tractor repair. As of 2002, the city had the headquarters of the Central Bank of North Korea and branches in Kapung and Panmun counties as financial institutions.