North Korea economy stuck in slow lane http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSSEO35502820071004?sp=true
Thu Oct 4, 2007
By Jon Herskovitz
SEOUL (Reuters) - Leaders of South Korea's biggest companies on Thursday saw the pride of North Korea's auto industry, which turns out vehicles named "Whistle" and "Cuckoo" at an annual rate equal to what Hyundai Motor makes in three hours.
The visit underscored the economic gulf between the two countries formed from the ashes of World War Two and then devastated by their fratricidal 1950-1953 Korean War.
South Korea has emerged as one of the world's economic giants, while the communist North, once richer than its neighbor, has become a basket case. The North's GDP -- estimated to be 21.2 trillion won ($23.21 billion) by the South's central bank -- ranks around that of war-torn Sri Lanka, and is less than 3 percent of the South Korean economy. http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSSEO35502820071004?sp=true