hankyoreh

staff photographer) kr

By Kang Tae-ho, senior staff writer

On Apr. 17, North Korea prevented ten South Korean businessmen from entering the Kaesong Industrial Complex. The businessmen had been hoping to visit their factories in the jointly operated industrial zone.

The complex’s shutdown, which began on Apr. 9 with the withdrawal of North Korean workers there, appears to be heading for a complete closure, without any signs of a turnaround in sight. A total of 205 South Korean workers were at the complex as of Apr. 17.

Unification Ministry spokesperson Kim Hyung-seok said North Korea’s Kaesong Industrial Complex Management Committee had given word early on Apr. 17 that it would not allow the owners into the country.

The committee also said South Korea “bears responsibility for the current situation,” Kim reported.

The day before, North Korea’s General Bureau for the Special Zone Development Guidance, which oversees the complex, warned in a memorandum that the situation would “deteriorate further if the South Korean government tries to pin responsibility for the current situation on North Korea.”

Kim Hyung-seok said he found it “extremely dismaying that North Korea would even refuse the tenant business representatives’ request to visit and transport food and pharmaceuticals for South Korean workers in the complex.”

“We strongly urge North Korea to normalize operations at the Kaesong complex by taking responsible action so that the South Koreans there can address their basic needs and issues,” he continued.

The ten business owners waited at the Gyeongui Line’s customs, immigration, and quarantine (CIQ) point on the morning of Apr. 17 for permission to enter and inspect the factories after operations were halted, communicate grievances to North Korea, and deliver daily necessities to South Korean workers at the complex. They were denied entry.

When asked whether Seoul might consider pulling all South Korean workers out of the complex if the current access ban continues, Kim said, “The North is causing problems for all sorts of illegitimate reasons, but the South Korean government’s position is that we should handle things calmly and keep the complex going.”

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