Inter-Korean industrial park feels strain of renewed tension

By Choi Sung-jin

In the aftermath of North Korea’s fourth nuclear test, the difficulties felt by businesses in the inter-Korean industrial complex in Gaeseong are aggravating daily, company officials said Tuesday.

After the South Korean government partially limited access to the joint factory park, a red light is on the operation of these companies, which are finding it more difficult to secure new buyers, while existing clients are reluctant to place orders, they said.

“We are running factories with the existing orders,” a company official said. “If this situation prolongs, however, it will deal a critical blow to our operation.”

On Jan. 7, a day after the North detonated a nuclear device, Seoul limited access to the industrial park to those directly related to manufacturing activities there, such as officials of the companies and their suppliers. Four days later, it further restricted entry to people essential for the complex’s running.

The number of South Koreans who stay there has fallen to 600, 200 fewer than before, but the complex is operating normally.

If the North makes additional provocation in reaction to the loudspeaker broadcasts or U.N. sanctions, the South will likely take additional steps. President Park Geun-hye, in a news conference last week, said the future is entirely up to how the North behaves. “Any further sanctions will drive us to a hopeless situation,” an executive said.

Currently, 124 South Korean companies employ 53,000 North Korean workers. North Korea shut down the joint industrial park in April 2013 - two months after it conducted the third nuclear test - for 134 days, incurring losses of 1 trillion won ($820 million) for South Korean employers.