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Minister of Unification Cho Myoung-gyon (second from the right)

Water treatment plants that were shut down in the aftermath of the closure of the Kaesong Industrial Complex in Feb. 2016 were reopened on Sept. 14 to coincide with the opening of the Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office in Kaesong, South Korea’s Unification Ministry announced.

“Purification and distribution facilities have been operating since the opening of the Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office to provide the office with water for drinking and everyday use,” Unification Ministry Spokesperson Baik Tae-hyun said during the regular briefing on Oct. 10.

When the Kaesong Complex was under development, the South Korean government decided to use the Wolgo Reservoir, a water source for the Kaesong region, to provide the complex’s water, and it built water purification and distribution plants there in 2007. According to an inter-Korean agreement, the tap water pumped from these facilities was provided not only to the Kaesong Complex but also to the greater Kaesong region.

In line with this agreement and precedent, water for drinking and regular use is being provided not only to the liaison office but also to areas of Kaesong outside of the complex. Between 1,000 and 2,000 tons are being pumped to the liaison office and related facilities each day, and 15,000 tons to other parts of the city.

“We hope you will understand that humanitarian issues were also taken into account, since the people of Kaesong rely on the Kaesong Complex’s purification and distribution facilities for their everyday water,” Baik Tae-hyun said.

“Using Wolgo Reservoir and supplying water to the city of Kaesong are both based in inter-Korean agreements. If we cut off the supply of water to Kaesong, North Korea could also cut off the supply of water from Wolgo Reservoir to the purification and distribution facilities,” Baik added.

South Korea reportedly doesn’t pay a fee to North Korea for the supply of water from Wolgo Reservoir that it purifies and supplies to the liaison office, nor does the North pay a fee to South Korea for the supply of the purified water to the Kaesong area.

When asked if the operation of the purification and distribution facilities was part of preparations to reopen the Kaesong Complex, Baik flatly said “this has nothing to do with reopening the Kaesong Complex.”

Seoul has been supplying electricity generated in South Korea to the building in Kaesong that houses the liaison office since Aug. 14, before the office was opened.

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer

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