By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff reporter
The Ministry of Unification lifted ban Tuesday on the shipment of four types of finished products, including 20 tons of garlic and garments, which completed consignment processing in North Korea, to South Korea.
It was the first time for Seoul to allow a shipment of products that had completed the consignment processing in North Korea since the ministry imposed a ban on their products in May.
The restriction was eased a day after the government announced a set of retaliatory measures after a multinational investigation team concluded that North Korea torpedoed the South Koran warship Cheonan.
Part of the package measures included a plan to halt inter-Korean trade.
The ministry said it would apply the rules of the trade embargo case by case, hinting that some products will be allowed.
The government took the measure in the face of mounting complaints from South Korean businesses, mostly small manufacturing firms, whose business partners are North Koreans.
These firms have suffered from the mounting tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula in the wake of the sinking of the corvette Cheonan in March as the North's provocation has led to the South's trade retaliation.
The Korea Logistics Forum, an association of businesses dealing with inter-Korean trade, estimated that the total losses these firms will record as a result of the trade ban will reach around 6 trillion won.
Owners of the firms sat down Tuesday to discuss possible solutions that would help them hedge their losses.
They requested the unification ministry to compensate them, but so far the government has remained silent to their demands.