A ground-breaking ceremony at the Gaesung Industrial Complex was held in the North Korean city Monday morning with 300 working-level officials from the two Koreas in attendance.

The half-hour long ceremony included an update on the construction of the complex by its developer, Hyundai Asan, and congratulatory messages from the two sides.

The ground-breaking ceremony was agreed upon during the fifth Inter-Korean economic talks held in Pyongyang last month.

The project will be jointly carried out by South Korea's Korea Land Development Corporation and the Hyundai Asan Company, along with North Korea's Chosun Asia-Pacific Peace Committee.

A total of 220 billion won will be invested over the next five years to create an industrial complex of about 2.4 million square meters around Gaesung City, and to establish a suburban neighborhood on an adjacent 3.6 million square meter parcel of land.