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S. Korean business leaders express cautious hope for reopening of Kaesong complex

All News 16:55 September 18, 2018

SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korean businesspeople who had operated factories at the now-shuttered Kaesong complex said Tuesday they will prepare for a possible resumption of operations at the joint factory park as South Korean President Moon Jae-in holds talks with Kim Jong-un.

Moon and the North Korean leader held their first round of talks on the first day of the historic summit largely aimed at seeking a breakthrough in the denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang.

Shin Han-yong, the head of a private task force representing South Korean firms that had operated factories in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, was included in Moon's 52-member entourage, which also encompasses government officials, politicians and selected figures from various other fields.

"I think the fact that I was included in the list indicates the government's desire to discuss the restarting of the Kaesong complex with the North," Shin told Yonhap News Agency.

"We will prepare for the reopening of the factory plant step by step, with hope for its reopening within the year," he added.

Opened in 2004, the industrial park in the North's border town of Kaesong was hailed as a key symbol of economic cooperation between the rival Koreas as it combined South Korean capital and technology with cheap labor from North Korea.

The Seoul government, however, halted its operation in 2016 in retaliation for Pyongyang's missile and nuclear provocations.

South Korean businesspeople who had operated factories at the now-shuttered joint industrial complex in North Korea's border city of Kaesong watch a TV live broadcast of President Moon Jae-in's arrival at Pyongyang for a three-day summit visit in their office in Seoul on Sept. 18, 2018. (Yonhap)

South Korean businesspeople who had operated factories at the now-shuttered joint industrial complex in North Korea's border city of Kaesong watch a TV live broadcast of President Moon Jae-in's arrival at Pyongyang for a three-day summit visit in their office in Seoul on Sept. 18, 2018. (Yonhap)

scaaet@yna.co.kr
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