The Unification Ministry will spend a portion of the inter-Korean cooperation fund to build dorms for North Korean workers at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex next year.

Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun said Tuesday that the plan has been sent to the National Assembly for approval. However, he did not elaborate on the exactly how much would be spent.

More than 35-thousand North Koreans work at the inter-Korean joint venture in the North’s border city and the number is expected to grow.

The two Koreas agreed, at an inter-Korean summit held in October last year, on the need to build the dorms.

The previous Roh Moo-hyun government set aside budget for the dorms from this year’s inter-Korean cooperation fund, but the current conservative administration has yet to put the money into action.