SOUTH KOREA

Joint Venture to Build Cement Plants in N. Korea: South Korean conglomerate Ssangyong Group has agreed to a joint venture with North Korea to build cement plants to help the isolated communist state’s weak economy. Ssangyong will also invest in building roads, telecommunications networks and other infrastructure in North Korea’s first free economic zone on its border with Russia and China. Final details will be decided this spring, the company said. South Korea lifted its half-century ban on direct trade and investment with North Korea in November.