Two Koreas start talks on future of idled industrial park
South and North Korea began working-level talks at the neutral border village of Panmunjom on Saturday to discuss the future of the suspended inter-Korean industrial complex.
The two sides agreed to hold the talks late Thursday to iron out differences over the Kaesong Industrial Complex that has been shut down for nearly three months amid high tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula.
The Ministry of Unification said the talks between representatives from the two sides began at 11:45 a.m. with Seoul and Pyongyang outlining items on their agendas that need to be addressed for operations to return to normal.
Seoul said that it wants to talk about allowing engineers to check manufacturing facilities that have been idle for months and discuss the return of finished products and raw production materials owned by South Korean companies.
Officials here have said they intend to negotiate safeguards that will prevent the North from arbitrarily closing down the complex down the road.
The meeting at Tongilgak on the North Korean side of the joint security area marks the first time government authorities have sat down together to exclusively discuss the industrial park that is the last economic link between the two Koreas.
Past cooperative tie-ups such as the Mount Kumgang tours and joint South-North ventures outside of the Kaesong complex, have all been abandoned due to deteriorating relations.
The latest meeting came after the North's General Bureau for Central Guidance to the Development of the Special Zone sent invitations to South Korean businessmen with factories in Kaesong, assuring them of safe passage to the border city.
The South countered this move by calling for government-to-government negotiations, while putting off allowing visits by businessmen until after officials hold talks.
Seoul, meanwhile, is being represented by Suh Ho, director at the unification ministry's exchange and cooperation bureau, while the North has tapped Park Chol-su, vice director at the general bureau for the special zone that controls the Kaesong complex.(Yonhap)