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| A South Korean soldier sets up a barricade on the road to the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, Tuesday. The government is permitting entry to the complex to a minimum number of South Koreans in the wake of North Korea's fourth nuclear test conducted on Jan. 6. / Yonhap |
By Jun Ji-hye
Top defense and intelligence officials here are discussing whether to shut down the inter-Korean industrial complex located in the North Korean border city of Gaeseong in retaliation to Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test, sources said Tuesday.
"The National Security Council (NSC) is considering all possibilities regarding the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, including withdrawing all South Korean firms or closing it," said a government official on condition of anonymity. "The fate of the complex will depend on the attitude of North Korea."
The idea of shutting down the complex is being discussed at the NSC as part of possible countermeasures against the North, the official said.
However, the Ministry of Unification dismissed the claims, saying that closing the complex is not an option.
"That's a worst case scenario that will never be realized. We should consider the impact a shutdown would have on South Korean firms operating in the complex," a ministry official said.
President Park Geun-hye is now facing growing calls to overhaul her inter-Korean policy and take stronger actions against Pyongyang that has appeared to be unwilling to work toward denuclearization despite three years of the Park administration's efforts at trust-building.
Last week, Seoul began restricting entry of its nationals into the complex out of concerns that heightened geopolitical tension could threaten their safety.
Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee said that the ministry strengthened the restriction from Tuesday by only permitting entry to a "minimum" number of South Koreans, namely businessmen directly involved in the operation of factories, to the complex.
A notable thing was that the government took preemptive action regarding the complex where there has yet to be signs of armed protests by the North.
This was in contrast to when the North carried out a third nuclear test in February, 2013. At the time, the government said it was not planning to impose any restrictions on the complex, considering its role as a symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation.
Such a change in the government's attitude has also led to speculation that the government might be considering shutting down the complex.
"This time, the government put restrictions on granting entry to the complex before the North stages any armed protests," said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University. "This could give the implication that the government is not positive about retaining the complex." But he added that the shutdown of the complex would drive inter-Korean relations into a corner.
Supporters of a shutdown of the complex cite United Nations sanctions that ban "bulk cash" transfers to the repressive state that could be siphoned into the North's development of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).
On the other hand, objectors say that there is an understanding that such money is allocated to pay wages to workers there and is unrelated to the development of WMDs. This so far has been the position held by the unification ministry too.
"If you think all the money invested in North will be used in the development of nuclear weapons, that may be a narrow viewpoint," said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies. "If the government even cut the normal channel of inter-Korean economic cooperation, it will rather lead the North to sell more rights and interests including mining rights to other countries. A wider viewpoint is necessary in dealing with this issue."
Experts say shutting down the complex would not be an easy decision for the government because it should first consider the enormous damage that South Korean firms would suffer if this was done.
When the North abruptly declared a shutdown of the complex in April 2013 in protest against the Seoul-Washington joint military drill that followed the North's third nuclear test, the complex was closed for about five months, and South Korean companies suffered financial damage estimated at about 1 trillion won.
A total of 124 South Korean firms are running factories there with about 54,000 North Koreans working at the complex, which opened in 2004 as a symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation.
Previously, the government restricted the entry of South Koreans to the complex when tensions were heightened in August last year following a North Korean-made landmine blast inside the Demilitarized Zone that maimed two South Korean soldiers, when the North attacked Yeonpyeong Island in 2010, and when Pyongyang carried out a second nuclear test in 2009.
Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye
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