BERLIN, January 5 (RIA Novosti) – North Korea is preparing to open up the country's economy to foreign investors and has invited German economic and legal experts for consultations, German media reported on Saturday.

"There is a master plan," an economist involved in the plan told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. "They want to open up this year," the expert said adding that Pyongyang does not intend to follow the Chinese model and “is rather interested in the Vietnamese model, in which specific companies were chosen as recipients of investments."

In his first New Year TV address, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for reconciliation with the South and said his country would strive to raise living standards.

Kim also called on North Koreans to "build an economic giant" and said raising living standards would be a priority this year.

Earlier this week, media reported about the planned trip to North Korea in January by Google chairman Eric Schmidt and former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.

The US State Department has advised against the trip: “We don't think the timing of this is particularly helpful.”