for a special administrative zone in the northwestern region of the communist state.

For details we turn to Oh Soo－young. After thirteen years of nothing much， North Korea

and China have once again agreed to start co－developing Sinuiju， a special administrative

region in North Korea. According to a government source in Seoul，

the two countries have agreed to resume plans to set up a capitalistic－style economic

zone， modeled after Hong Kong and Macau. The project was initially conceived in 2002

by North Korea′s former leader Kim Jong－il， to experiment with a market economy and to

attract foreign investment. However， the plan was later abandoned when

a Chinese－born businessman appointed as the region′s governor was arrested in China

for tax evasion. But now， the project seems to be back on

track after Liu Yunshan ，.. a senior Chinese official，... attended celebrations in Pyongyang

this month， marking 70 years of North Korea′s ruling Workers′ Party，

According to the plans， a canal will be built across the Sinuiju region， creating

Northern and Southern districts， with residential areas and public infrastructure on each side.

Ten bridges will arch over the canal，... which will be used for shipping goods and

industrial water management. Six mobile communication base stations will

also be installed by the two partner countries. Total investment in Sinuiju is expected to

reach four－hundred billion U.S. dollars. Oh Soo－young， Arirang News.