Peregrine to enter N. Korea

Peregrine to enter N. Korea

SEOUL (AFP): Hong Kong's Peregrine Group announced here
yesterday it was hoping to sign a contract this weekend to set up
what it called the first ever joint venture bank with North
Korea.

"I am going up to North Korea this weekend ... to discuss
final details of this joint venture which we hope will be the
start of a conduit for foreign investors to participate in and
help the North Korean economy to grow," Philip Tose, chairman of
Peregrine Investment Holdings, told a press conference here.

Tose said he believed there were "great opportunities" in the
isolated, communist state for international investors in "power,
telecommunications and infrastructure" programs.

Tose declined to reveal details of the proposed joint venture
with Daesung Bank, Pyongyang's main state-run bank, until after
his trip to Pyongyang, which he said was a culmination of
one-and-a-half year's contacts with the reclusive North.