(SEJONG=NEWSIS) The government, which held the seventh trade-investment promotion meeting on March 19, has decided to implement measures to designate Saemangeum as a special business zone with eased investment regulations.

With the free trade agreement (FTA) between Korea and China, the government aims to reduce regulations that prevent corporate investment in the Saemangeum area, to turn it into a foothold for the Chinese market.

Depending on the outcomes of the Saemangeum area, the newly adopted measures will be applied to the free economic zones, corporate cities and Jeju Island.

The measures focus on providing better bilateral exchanges of human resources and commodities to establish the Korea-China economic cooperation complex, which was agreed upon by the leaders of both countries at the last Korea-China Summit.

The government will drastically reduce regulations related to foreign employment in the Saemangeum area to make foreign employment proportional to domestic employment.

The number of foreign professionals a company in the Saemangeum area can hire will be increased by 20 to 30 percent, and companies that have invested more than KRW 500 million in the area will be allowed to hire the same number of foreign workers as domestic workers.

Employees of companies recommended by the Korea Agency for Saemangeum Development and Investment (KASDI) and their family members can be issued a C-3 Visa for visits that span less than 90 days in Korea simply by submitting a letter of recommendation, and nothing else.

Also, the government will designate the Saemangeum area as a bonded area to prepare a one-stop system for customs in the region.

"Measures to designate Saemangeum as a special business zone by reducing investment-related regulations are based on an agreement between the two leaders to cooperate for the establishment of the Korea-China economic cooperation complex. We will differentiate the Saemangeum area by lifting regulations that have prevented companies from investing in the region," said KASDI Commissioner Lee Byoung-gook.

ssjun@newsis.com