S. Korean businessmen return to idled Kaesong Complex

Posted on : 2013-07-11 12:07 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Inter-Korean tensions in recent years have hindered investment in the complex; businessmen want to get back to work
 Gyeonggi Province after returning from their inspection of facilities in Kaesong
Gyeonggi Province after returning from their inspection of facilities in Kaesong

By Park Byong-su, staff reporter and Park Kyung-man, north Gyeonggi correspondent

When South Korean workers returned to the Kaesong Industrial Complex on July 10, 97 days after North Korea prevented entrance to the complex on Apr. 3, the industrial park looked desolate under an overcast sky, with few signs of life.

All of the traffic signals were off. Several North Korean workers could be seen pulling weeds that had grown 10-20cm tall. The gas station, convenience store, and company offices that the South Korean staff had used were all locked up.

Nevertheless, the condition of the machinery and materials at the complex was not as bad as the visiting South Koreans had worried. A group of 96 representatives from 59 electricity and electronics companies went around the complex inspecting. This was separate from the second round of working-level talks held between the North and South Korean governments.

“The factories had been empty for nearly 100 days, but they were not in as bad a shape as we had expected,” said Kim Hak-kwon, joint chair of the Emergency Measures Committee for Normalizing the Kaesong Industrial Complex. It was the evening of July 10, and Kim had returned to the Dorasan Inter-Korea Transit Office. “In our judgment, there will not be a problem in getting the factories running again,” Kim said.

“The companies’ situations are somewhat different, but in general the condition of the machines is not that bad,” said Kim. “Since it will take a lot of time and cost a lot to maintain and repair the machines, a team of ten or more people will have to stay at the complex for about 3-4 weeks.”

North Korean employees of the South Korean tenant companies extended a warm greeting, sources reported.

“We were so happy to see each other that we embraced right away,” said one businessman. “They said it was like that with everyone. We’ve all been working closely with each other for years, and that’s just what happens.”

The head of one electronics parts company said the employees “really wanted normalization and said they were ready to go to work at any time. The visitors embraced the seven North Korean officials and employees who came out to greet them, and said they shouldn’t be separated again.”

North Korean officials were reportedly concerned about the removal of materials and equipment.

“The people from the Central Special Zone Development Guidance General Bureau said, ‘We’ve got 53,000 workers on line waiting for everything to start up again. No one’s moved,’” reported a head of one tenant company. “I got the sense that the North Koreans are also really hoping to see the Kaesong Complex back up and running again.”

The head of a car parts company recalled explaining to the Central Special Zone Development Guidance General Bureau representatives that the situation “was the result of direct actions by North Korea, and there need to be an apology and preventive measures in place for North Korea’s own sake.”

Some expressed the position that the retrieval of finished products and materials, which the South Korean government had been demanding from North Korea, was of secondary importance.

“It’s different from when we pulled out in May,” a businessman said. “Now it‘s almost useless. That ship has already sailed.”

Instead, the businessmen called for the lifting of the May 24 measures - restrictions on economic exchange with North Korea - put in place on May 24, 2010, after the Cheonan warship sinking - as a step toward restoring and improving the complex’s operations.

“The government keeps talking about global standards and investment by foreign businesses, but there really hasn’t been any investment at all in the Kaesong Complex in the three years since the May 24 measures,” said one businessman. “We haven’t been able to bring a single brick in. What foreign company is going to want to come here?”

 

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

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