North Korea will encourage transnational marriages between North Korean women and Chinese or foreign entrepreneurs currently living in China and offer incentives to them in the name of attracting foreign investment, South Korea's Korea Joongang Daily reported Friday.

The North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity (NKIS), a group of North Korean dissidents resident in South Korea, claimed that entrepreneurs who want to marry North Korean beauties need to pay a deposit of $47,130 to get permission from North Korean authorities, the report said.

After the entrepreneurs become "sons-in-law" of North Korea, the country will provide various investment proposals for them.

If a deal cannot be reached, North Korea will impose an additional fee of $1 million on these entrepreneurs.

A source who is helping push forward transnational marriages between Chinese and North Korean citizens revealed that female candidates aged between 20 and 25 are selected by the North Korean government and Workers' Party. They are mainly from the financial department of the party or North Korea's supreme headquarters, the report added.

The NKIS said that North Korea's promotion of transnational marriages at a national level proves that the country is in urgent need of attracting foreign investment to cope with its economic downturn.

Agencies - Global Times