The 1,000 jobs at the Daewoo plans in Antrim and Carrickfergus appear to be safe, despite fears that they were in danger due to a reorganisation of the group.

The Korean government is implementing a deal under which Daewoo's electronic business is being exchanged for Samsung's motor division.

However in a letter to SDLP leader John Hume. the South Korean Ambassador in London, Mr Choi Don-jin said that the latest development was that Samsung and Daewoo have agreed that Daewoo Electronics overseas operation will continue as it is, after the Samsung deal.

"Accordingly, I believe there is little need for concern over the future employment prospects of those working at the Daewoo factories in Antrim and Carrickfergus", said the letter from Buckingham Gate embassy.

In December Daewoo Electronics Director in Antrim, Mr Daniel McLarnon initiated a campaign to `stop the swap' between themselves and Samsung's car division. They feared that Samsung's long-term plans for the operations might have involved either selling it to another electronics company or moving its operations out of Northern Ireland.

The Daewoo/Samsung deal was forced by an IMF-driven economic shake-up for the troubled South Korean economy but it was feared that the worldwide effects could lead to job losses here.

The highly successful Antrim factory has produced over four million video recorders in the ten years it has been based in Antrim and is the second largest VCR producer in Europe with an 11 per cent market share.

Last year the company had a sales turnover of £100 million with profits of £1.2 million and local executives were frustrated that the operation could be moved to Eastern Europe by Samsung when they take over.

The campaign to save the 1,000 jobs in Antrim and Carrickfergus gained the support of the twelve South and East Antrim Assembly members who wrote to President Kim in South Korea asking him to consider alternatives to the corporate swap.