More than 400 government and business officials from South and North Korea gathered Tuesday at the Gaesong Industrial Complex in the North to celebrate the completion of the first-phase development of the complex.

The completion of the first-phase development came four years and four months after construction began in June 2003.

The first-phase of the South-North joint industrial park covers three-point-three million square meters. Currently 45 firms operate in the zone.

The Korea Land Corporation plans to launch early next year the second-stage construction on more than eight square kilometers of land, beginning with land and soil survey next month.