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Ministry of Unification spokesperson

By Kang Tae-ho, senior staff writer

North Korea gave Seoul until May 6 to submit an opinion for discussions on the Kaesong Industrial Complex.

A document containing this information was faxed recently to tenant companies. The government disputed the sincerity of the request, but questions remain as to why it did not reveal the content of Pyongyang’s offer at the time.

On May 18, a second document in the name of North Korea’s Central Special Zone Development Guidance General Bureau was sent to some of the companies. The two-page text stated that North Korea had told Seoul it was willing to cooperate on the recovery of businesses’ finished products and raw materials, asking for a schedule for concrete discussions and travel plans by May 6.

This came after another fax in question-and-answer format that was sent to seven to eight tenant businesses on May 16 in the name of a General Bureau spokesperson.

In a May 19 statement, Ministry of Unification spokesperson Kim Hyung-seok said the good faith of the May 3 proposal had been “highly questionable,” noting that it came at a time when all dialogue channels had been cut off and all South Koreans withdrawn, making discussions “practically impossible.”

Kim also said North Korea had been sent a reply from South Korea asking to “formally state the issues through a suitable liaison channel,” but had taken no action by the time Seoul proposed working-level talks on May 14.

Meanwhile, a ministry official commented on a request filed by tenant businesses to visit the complex on May 23 to collect goods and materials themselves, hinting that permission would not be granted.

“At a time like now when inter-Korean relations are completely cut off, the authorities would have to discuss the entry and exit procedures,” the official said.

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