 The Laoag government also aimed to get direct flights between Korea and Laoag, so that tourists would not have to waste time flying south to Manila and then catch a connecting flight back north.There had been plans for the Korea Overseas Grain Investment and Development Company (Kogid) to invest $12 million in a 10,000-hectare maize plantation in Mallig, Isabela, but the plans were put on hold over a dispute on value added tax exemption.There are also known to be some North Korean migrant workers who have been admitted to the Philippines as laborers in the area.