hankyoreh

South Korea began withdrawing its personnel from the Gaeseong (Kaesong) Industrial Complex in North Korea on November 28. Tours to the North’s ancient border city of Gaeseong and cross-boarder cargo train service on the Gyeongeui Line were both suspended on the same day. The actions were taken after North Korea notified the South on November 24 that it would block and strictly limit non-essential overland travel and reduce the number of South Korean staff at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex beginning next month.

In a press briefing on November 28, South Korea’s Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun said, “As of November 28, the Office of Consultation for Economic Cooperation in Gaeseong was closed and seven officials from the office returned to the South as of 4:30 p.m. that day via the Military Demarcation Line.”

Six buses carrying 210 South Korean tourists who were on what could be the final tour to Gaeseong returned to Seoul at 5:00 p.m. The cargo train that makes daily round trips between North and South left for the North’s Bongdong Station at around 9:30 a.m. and returned to the South’s Dorasan Station at 2:00 p.m., in what may have been its final run.

Earlier in the day, North Korea was believed to have informed South Korea that it would limit the number of South Koreans stationed at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex to approximately 1,600 people. The Unification Ministry spokesman said, however, “Negotiations are underway because some companies (in the Gaeseong complex) have not received notification. The number of people allowed to stay will be approximately 1,600 to 1,800.”

North Korea was believed to have a flexible attitude toward the Gaeseong Industrial Complex Management Commission, allowing 37 South Korean committee staff members to stay, seven more than South Korea had requested.

The South Korean government also requested that approximately 2,000 of the 4,168 South Koreans with permits to visit or stay at the Gaeseong complex on a regular basis be allowed to keep their permits. A South Korean government official said, “Of the 4,168 people (with permits), some 1,500 to 1,700 people actually stay at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex and the remainder travel there if necessary.” Even if the number of South Koreans with permits is reduced to between 1,600 and 1,800 people, it will not significantly undermine production because it will not have an effect on the actual number of people stationed at the site, the official said.

A chief executive of a company in the Gaeseong complex said, “We applied for 50 people to keep the permits and 40 people were allowed to keep them. But there will not be a big problem with managing production lines.”

However, some expressed concerns that corporate activities could be hindered if the reduction in the number of permits makes traveling to Gaeseong difficult. A chief executive of another company in the Gaeseong complex said, “While four employees who live within the complex were allowed to keep their permits, only four out of another 16 employees and executives on the development and materials teams were allowed to keep theirs. It could make close cooperation and communication between the plant and headquarters difficult.”

Currently, South Korean employees who have the permits can travel frequently to the Gaeseong complex without going through a separate approval process. But travel time and costs are likely to increase because those who were not allowed to keep the permits will now have to go through a separate process to enter the complex.

The South Korean government plans to withdraw more South Koreans from the Gaeseong complex as soon as negotiations with the North have been completed and the number of people allowed to keep their permits is fixed. A unification ministry official said, “The number of South Koreans staying within the Gaeseong Industrial Complex totaled 1,344 as of the evening of November 28. An additional withdrawal (of personnel) will be completed by the end of this month as soon as negotiations with the North are complete.”

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