북한 대표단, 경기도 테크노밸리•농업기술원 방문... 첨단과학기술에 '관심'<br /><br />A five-member, high-level delegation from North Korea is here in the nation, primarily to attend an international conference to be held tomorrow.<br />Today, the visitors took a tour around some key industrial facilities in Gyeonggi-do Province.<br />According to our Oh Jung-hee they showed keen interest in smart technology. <br />For the first time in 11 years, North Korean senior officials looked around economic facilities in South Korea.<br />The five-member, high-level delegation from North Korea led by Ri Jong-hyok, vice chairman of Pyeongyang's Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee,... visited Pangyo Techno Valley in Gyeonggi-do Province on Thursday.<br />The high-tech industrial complex just south of Seoul was built as a hub to test out fourth industrial revolution technologies.<br />Gyeonggi-do Province Governor Lee Jae-myung accompanied Ri... and they tried out self-driving vehicles for themselves and watched 3D printing technology.<br />In the afternoon, Ri visited a farming technology complex in the same province,... and toured around smart farms and greenhouses.<br /><br />Though Ri is not deeply involved in the economy or science in the North, watchers believe there is a reason as to why he visited the industrial facilities in South Korea.<br />After Kim Jong-un took power, Pyeongyang's been stressing the importance of advanced science and technology,... and is looking for ways to adapt technology to farming to improve food supply.<br />When Kim Jong-un visited China in June, he himself also visited farming technology centers in Beijing.<br />Pyeongyang's delegation came to the South after an invitation from Gyeonggi-do Province, not the Seoul government,... to take part in an international conference on Friday.<br />The delegation initially included two senior North Korean officials -- Kim Song-hye and Ri Jong-hyok -- who've been involved in Pyeongyang-Washington negotiations and inter-Korean discussions respectively.<br />But Kim Song-hye didn't make the journey to the South.<br />Seoul's unification ministry ruled out the possibility of an official meeting with the North Korean delegation as their visit is of a civic nature... but admitted there could be unofficial working-level contacts.<br />Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News. <br />
