By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Despite North Korea's launch of a rocket on Sunday, the government has eased restrictions to enable more South Koreans to visit the Gaeseong Industrial Complex in the North, the Ministry of Unification said Wednesday.
The South will add more flexibility when allowing South Koreans to visit the joint complex, a ministry official said.
The measure came after President Lee Myung-bak instructed his Cabinet to deal with the entry issue more flexibly to help corporations conduct business efficiently.
The ministry had called on companies operating in the industrial park to send a ``minimum'' number of employees to maintain business since the North restricted departing to and from its territory last December.
It placed the stricter restrictions after Pyongyang launched its first long-range rocket.
``We will let more people visit the complex if more workers are necessary,'' ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun told reporters.
According to the ministry, about 250 people failed to get permission to visit the Gaeseong site Monday and Tuesday. The number decreased to 105 Wednesday.
More good news for firms in the complex is that the government is studying ways to compensate them for losses caused by the North's border-crossing restriction.
``The government is seeking measures to compensate them for their loss via trade insurance,'' a government official was quoted as saying by the Yonhap News Agency.
``Insurance currently covers losses triggered by inter-Korean trade but we are mulling over expansion of the coverage,'' the official said, asking not to be identified.
Companies in the complex can get compensation of up to five billion won ($3.7 million) from insurance on inter-Korean cooperation only when they see losses in facility investment.
The ministry reduced the number of visitors to the Gaeseong site to 700 from the 1,100 per day for security concerns and allowed only 300 to 400 people to cross the inter-Korean border this week.
North Korea began to restrict border crossings last December in a retaliatory measure against President Lee's tougher stance on the Stalinist state.
The complex, a symbol of previous liberal administrations' reconciliatory efforts, has more than 100 companies and about 70,000 workers.
ksy@koreatimes.co.kr
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