hankyoreh

It was confirmed Sunday that the Ministry of Unification has issued a statement to firms engaged in trade with North Korea through Kaesong Industrial Complex saying, “Even if you receive finished products as commissioned in Kaesong, do not send your remittance payments to North Korea.”

Many officials from the firms, who have since demanded that their names not be revealed for fear of incurring disadvantages to their companies, said the Unification Ministry has demanded that they sign and submit a document entitled, “Memorandum Regarding Payments for Imported Items.”

They said the memorandum sent by the ministry stated that in cases where the import of completed goods is permitted, the companies promise to suspend sending processing fees. They also said the ministry is demanding that firms sign and submit an agreement to the memorandum.

“The administration’s request that we should not pay processing fees to north Korea even if we accept finished goods makes me extremely uncomfortable, as their request seems to be no different than asking firms to engage in a form of fraud,” said another firm official.

In response, some 40-50 representatives from firms producing clothing on commission in Kaesong plan to hold a meeting Tuesday afternoon at the Korea Federation of Textile Industries in Seoul’s Daechi neighborhood. During the meeting, they plan to form a group to address the recent situation and adopt a statement pressing the Lee administration to put off executing its ban on trade on products produced on commission and fully permit the import of finished goods processed from raw materials already sent.

“The measures pressed onto North Korea on May 24 have proceeded as planned, and the administration plans to maintain its current policy tenor,” said a high-ranking Unification Ministry official in response.

A Unification Ministry official confirmed that the ministry has asked for firms’ cooperation in delaying payments to North Korea for the time being. This request was made as the ministry also decided to selectively permit the import of finished goods processed from raw materials sent before the May 24 measures in order to minimize the losses for firms operating in Kaesong. He said the administration would decide its position on the issue of sending payments to North Korea, such as processing fees, after internal consideration.

Since the May 24 measures, no payments have been made to North Korea by firms trading in goods processed on commission in North Korea.

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