NK allows entrepreneurs to visit Gaeseong complex

A chief of a member company of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex Companies' Association speaks during an emergency meeting at the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business building in central Seoul, Wednesday. / Yonhap

By Chung Min-uck

North Korea said Wednesday it will allow South Korean businessmen to visit the suspended inter-Korean joint complex of Gaeseong.

The North conveyed the message via the liaison channel at the truce village of Panmunjeom at around 5 p.m., according to the Ministry of Unification.

“We will allow the visit by business personnel to discuss urgent countermeasures regarding the damage incurred on their facility and equipment,” the North said. “When the date for the visit is decided we will take follow-up measures on their transportation and communication.”

The move is considered a response to the earlier call made by the South Korean entrepreneurs that steps must be taken by the South and North Korean government to relocate electronic and machinery equipment from the suspended complex.

A task force representing for 46 electronic and machinery makers out of the 123 South Korean companies in Gaesong said Wednesday its members are pushing to relocate their equipment from Gaeseong to either South Korea or unspecified foreign countries.

The North pulled all of its 53,000 workers from the complex in April amid tensions with South Korea.

Seoul quickly responded by bringing home all of its workers from the complex, which had been billed as the last remaining symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.

However, it remains to be seen whether South Korean government would allow the entrepreneurs to visit the North.

Ministry of Unification said it will announce its position regarding the North’s latest offer as early as today.

Unification Ministry long claimed that the surest way to resolve the Gaeseong impasse is for the North to accept Seoul’s proposal for government-to-government talks.

South Korea has said that it seeks stable development of the joint venture and wants safeguards to prevent a recurrence of unilateral action by the North. It has also insisted on resolving all differences through dialogue.

Seoul has been looking over the damage claims made by the Gaeseong companies and plans to announce additional support measures.