Seoul to deliver bizmen's hope to visit Kaesong complex to N.K. this week

SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is expected to deliver a group of business people's hope to visit a now-shuttered inter-Korean industrial park to North Korea this week amid speculation over the North's unilateral resumption of the zone, an official said Thursday.

An official at Seoul's unification ministry said that the government will likely unveil its stance on the issue on Friday, possibly through an announcement to the media. Seoul is widely expected to urge the North to accept their move.

A group of 40 officials from local firms that had operated at the Kaesong Industrial Complex just north of the border asked the Seoul government last week to permit a visit to check their factories.

North Korea's propaganda outlets recently hinted that North Korea partially restarted operation of the complex without consent.

The previous government of ousted leader Park Geun-hye shut down the factory zone in February 2016 in response to North Korea's nuclear and missile tests.

Seoul needs Pyongyang's documents guaranteeing the safety of its nationals before it gives the green light to their visit.

But North Korea is seen unlikely to consent to their visit amid heightened tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.

Amid speculation over the complex's resumption, Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told lawmakers Friday that there are no specific signs it's been reopened, though some bus movement and lit street lamps have been spotted since March or April.

The government has said that North Korea should not resume operations at the complex without permission as the factories and machinery belong to South Korean firms.

The factory zone, launched in 2004, had accommodated 124 South Korean firms which employed more than 54,000 North Korean workers to produce labor-intensive goods such as clothes and utensils.

sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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