North Korean official visits South Korea's startup cluster

SEOUL, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- A North Korean delegation visited South Korea's latest technology hub and startup cluster Thursday as part of a four-day visit to attend an international forum, the country's Gyeonggi Province Government said.

Ri Jong-hyok, vice chairman of the North Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, visited Pangyo Techno Valley, a cluster of technology companies and startups located in Seongnam, south of Seoul, accompanied by Lee Jae-myung, a Gyeonggi province governor, News 1 reported.

Ri, a 83-year-old official, rode a self-driving bus on trial operation before he arrived a startup campus for a 20-minute tour and a 3-D printer demonstration. The 54,075-square-meter Startup Campus Pangyo, opened in 2016, is the largest space for startups in South Korea, according to Yonhap News.

A group of North Korean high-ranking officials arrived the South on Wednesday to attend an International Forum for Peace and Prosperity in the Asia-Pacific Region, organized by the Gyeonggi Province Government and a Seoul-based think tank. The forum will discuss forced labor issues under the Japanese colonial rule of Korea in the early 1900s.

Kim Sung-hye, one of the members of the North Korean delegation, canceled her trip for an unspecified reason. She is one of the North Korean negotiators for denuclearization talks with the United States.