개성공단의 법제 인프라구축을 위한 거버넌스 확충

The purpose of this paper is to examine some legal problems of economic cooperation, to find possible resolutions for construction of legal infrastructure and activation of governance in the 'Gaeseong Industrial Complex'(GIC) in North Korea. Kim Jong-il's regime of North Korea has put forth the key economic policy guidelines of building a 'self-sufficient national economy,' an 'economy for the military-first era' and 'pragmatic socialism.' To escape from the structural 'swamp of poverty,' North Korea has established and implemented an economic recovery strategy since 2000 and strived for changes by accommodating some functions of market economy within the framework of planned economy through the introduction of measures to improve economic management on July 1, 2002. The GIC has a distinctive legal infrastructure compared to other special economic zones of North Korea. The GIC has its own legal infrastructure separate from the general North Korean legal system. Kim Jong-il's regime especially delegated certain legislative powers to the local authority so that the local authority may set up distinctive legal infrastructures suitable for inducing foreign investment. The decision of North Korea to allow the GIC to have its own legal infrastructure separate from general North Korean legal system may be viewed as taking an important step for the establishment of favorable investment environment in the GIC. The administrative body of the GIC, the 'Gaeseong Industrial District Management Committee'(GIDMC), has been organized by South Koreans, and GIDMC is responsible for almost the entire administration of the GIC. Especially, GIDMC is playing the role of legislative body in reality by enacting sub-regulations of the GIC. The GIC is a very unique space where general North Korean law does not govern, although the GIC is under North Korean sovereign. Nor does South Korean law effectively govern the area. Thus, a separate legal infrastructure needed to be established, and for this purpose, the Gaeseong Industrial Complex Law and 16 regulations have been enacted. However, the GIC Law and fourteen regulations are not enough to cover the whole legal infrastructure of the GIC, and thus a lot of legislation is still necessary. Pursuant to the GIC Law, legislation of sub-regulation is delegated to the GIDMC, and so far approximately 60 sub-regulations have been enacted (or drafted) by the GIDMC. The GIC Law and fourteen regulations have been prepared by the joint work of the North and South Koreans. Since the North Korean authority was cooperative in making the legal infrastructure investor-friendly, a considerable portion of provisions and regulations were initially drafted by South Koreans. Currently, since GIDMC is in charge of establishing sub-regulations of the GIC, almost all sub-regulations are enacted by South Koreans. In addition, certain inter-Korean agreements have been agreed upon between two Koreas. These inter-Korean Agreements form important constituents of the whole GIC legal infrastructure. At the beginning, North Korean authority did not pay much attention to the GIC Law and regulations. However, now they are seriously studying the GIC Law and regulations, and in-depth discussions have frequently been observed between the North Korean government officials and the GIDMC. There is no question that continued contact between North and South Koreans in Gaeseong will serve to instigate some form of change in North Korea over the long term. Moreover, North Korea is one of the few countries to which the United States does not grant normal trade relations status. As a result, the companies with the U.S. customers cannot enter the GIC and given the U.S. market is the largest market in the world, this must be one of the toughest problems obstructing the development of the GIC. The GIC is a special zone separated from politics where parties have an easy access to the other party and communicate more easily with each other. Through the GIC, it is possible for the South and the North to frequently communicate and access to each other, thereby accelerating mutual understanding and economic cooperation between them. Studying to improve legal infrastructures and to activate governance for the prosperity of the GIC will not only contribute to development of inter-korean economic cooperation, but also provide a starting point for reaching a consensus in unifying the different legal system of the two Koreas, exchange and cooperation of legal aspects of the inter-Korea.