With China making claims on Korea’s history, giving Beijing a stake in North Korea’s well being on the DPRK’s southern border might not be the best of moves, but money beckons:

A Chinese manufacturer has become the first foreign company to sign a contract to open a factory in an inter-Korean industrial complex in North Korea, a developer said Tuesday.

Dashing Diva Corp., the South Korean arm of Chinese artificial fingernail and cosmetics maker Tianjin JCI Cosmetic Corp., signed a contract Monday for a parcel of land in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, said Korea Land Corp. official Belle Kim.

[. . .]

She had no details on when Dashing Diva planned to begin operating or how many North Koreans it would employ, but said it was the first foreign company to sign a contract to enter the zone.

Kim said the contract calls for the company to pay about 258 million won (US$274,500; €201,000), which will give it the right to use land, totaling about 5,700 sq. meters (61,354 sq. feet), for 50 years.

Kim said that any foreign company wishing to enter the zone must first have a presence in South Korea.

Given the recent safety concerns of Chinese products, not sure I’d want anyone I know (or don’t know) using these cosmetics.

American politicians, besided Sam Brownback (R-KS) are finally starting to take a closer look at North Korean issues, and some don’t care for the Kaesong project:

South Korea has ambitious plans for further expansion in coming years.

A U.S. congressman visiting South Korea on Tuesday, however, criticized that stance.

“Is this industry (the Kaesong complex) empowering North Korean workers or the North Korean government, which abuses its people and remains a threat to international security?” Ed Royce, a Republican member of the House of Representatives from California, asked at a parliamentary forum on South Korea-U.S. relations held at the National Assembly.

“To me, the answer is that it’s strengthening the North Korean regime and its abusive practices,” Royce said. “I wish South Korea was not so enthusiastic about expanding this site.”