hankyoreh

Apr. 3. (by Lee Jeong-ah

By Kang Tae-ho, senior staff writer

If North Korea continues blocking access to the Kaesong Industrial Complex, the operational rate of the 123 firms working there may drop below 50% next week, some observers worry. On Apr. 5, the third day that South Koreans were not allowed to enter the complex, North Korea saw the beginning of a three-day break that includes a national holiday and the weekend.

The owner of a company operating at Kaesong met with Hankyoreh reporters on May. 5. “If things keep going as they are, the operational rate of companies in the complex will fall below 50% by next week, and by the weekend, a considerable number of companies will be forced to stop operations altogether,” he said. “If the factories shut down, the majority of firms will go out of business, with the exception of a few companies in the demonstration area. These firms have barely been getting by for the past five years.”

“The fact that we have been prevented from bringing in raw materials is bad enough, but there are also considerable problems in bringing the manufactured goods back into South Korea. One particular problem is with the parts manufacturing companies. If they are not able to deliver the parts to the companies that manufacture the finished product, it could cause a series of negative effects on South Korean industry.”

“All 123 companies are already experiencing difficulties in production, and as more time goes by, the situation will only get worse,” said an official with the Corporate Association of Kaesong Industrial Complex. “We have shared our concern with our counterparts in the North that if the ban on access to the complex is not lifted at the beginning of the next week, Kaesong will no longer be able to carry out its intended function.”

“We have determined that three textile companies at the Kaesong Complex are not able to operate their factories because of a shortage of raw materials,” said Kim Hyung-suk, spokesperson for the Unification Ministry, at a press briefing held on the same day. He said they believed that the number of companies unable to continue manufacturing would increase in the next few days.

When Kim was asked how long South Korean companies would be able to stay in the complex and continue their operations if the North does regularize access, he answered that he was not able to say because this was a “sensitive issue.”

In a meeting held at the Seoul Foreign Correspondents’ Club on Apr. 5, Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said, “The South Korean government does not want that [shutting down the Kaesong Complex] to happen. What the Republic of Korea wants is to maintain and improve stability at Kaesong,” he stated emphatically.

“If the companies become unable to carry on with production, the entire responsibility will lie with North Korea,” he said.

The personnel from South Korean companies who are still at the Kaesong Complex include 608 South Korean citizens and 6 foreigners.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]