Kaesong Complex tenant companies object to North Korean use of factory operations

Posted on : 2017-10-12 17:50 KST Modified on : 2017-10-12 17:50 KST
Representatives are hoping to visit the complex to confirm recent reports
Shin Han-yong
Shin Han-yong

Following reports that North Korea is operating factories in the Kaesong Industrial Complex without permission, tenant companies at the complex have decided to try to arrange a visit to the North to confirm the veracity of these reports. The Emergency Measures Committee of the Kaesong Complex Tenant Companies announced that this decision had been made during a meeting held at the office of the Korea Federation of SMEs (Small and Medium-size Enterprises) in Yeouido, in the Yeongdeungpo District of Seoul, on the morning of Oct. 11.

“Since last weekend, there have been reports in the domestic and foreign press suggesting that North Korea is operating some of the factories in the Kaesong Complex. North Korea must immediately stop operating our companies’ assets and may not use them without permission under any circumstances,” the committee said in a statement.

The claim that North Korea is unilaterally operating some of the Kaesong factories was first made by US-funded Radio Free Asia on Oct. 3. The radio network quoted a Chinese source who works in the processing industry in North Korea as saying that the North was secretly operating 19 textile factories at the Kaesong Complex.

After a string of related reports, North Korean foreign propaganda website DPRK Today said, “The Kaesong Industrial Complex is clearly an area in which we exercise our sovereignty, and consequently it’s none of [South Korea’s] business what we do there.” The website also hinted that North Korea would run the complex on its own: “The factories in our complex will be running even more vigorously.”

“Since the invested assets in the Kaesong Complex belong to our companies, [North Korea] must immediately stop using them. The North and South Korean authorities need to cooperate and allow the tenant companies to visit North Korea to confirm the truth of the unauthorized use of the Kaesong Complex and to come up with measures to maintain and preserve the facilities there,” said Shin Han-yong, co-chair of the committee.

The committee held a press conference in front of the Central Government Complex in Seoul on the morning of Oct. 12 to ask the Unification Ministry for permission to make contact with North Koreans to arrange a visit to the North. But it seems unlikely that the businesspeople will actually be able to visit the North without a guarantee of safety from Pyongyang.

“If South Korean companies request permission to visit North Korea in order to verify reports that North Korea has resumed operations at the complex and to check on the assets that they left behind, the government will consider this in light of several circumstances,” an official from the Unification Ministry said on Oct. 10.

By Jung In-hwan, staff reporter

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