Park regrets shutdown of Gaeseong complex

President Park Geun-hye speaks during a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday. She expressed her concern over the closure of the joint inter-Korean industrial park in Gaeseong. / Yonhap

By Chung Min-uck

President Park Geun-hye expressed her disappointment Tuesday with North Korea's decision to suspend the operation of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.

"It is very disappointing that North Korea abruptly decided to suspend the operation of the Gaeseong complex that has been operating without any problems," Park said during a Cabinet meeting. "How long must we put up with this endless vicious cycle of North Korea creating crises before reaching a compromise in exchange for aid, and again creating crises before compromise and aid?"

"North Korea should immediately stop this wrong behavior and make the right choice for the future of the entire Korean people," Park added.

All operations at the joint complex came to a halt as North Korean workers failed to show up for work Tuesday, a day after the regime announced it would withdraw them and temporarily suspend operations.

"All manufacturing sector workers did not report to work, although security personnel hired to guard factories, and North Korean administrative personnel of the Gaeseong Industrial District Management Committee showed up for duty," an official of the Ministry of Unification said.

Asked about government's position on the matter, the official said "there is no change in the government's position that the joint complex should be operated properly. The South would never be the first to declare a halt, withdraw staff and close the complex."

Inter-Korean tensions are currently reaching one of the highest points since the Korean War (1950-1953) as North Korea is ratcheting up war threats with bellicose rhetoric on a daily basis in response to a South Korea-U.S. joint military exercise, and new U.N. sanctions adopted for its Feb. 12 nuclear test.

At the complex, a total of 123 factories employ some 53,000 workers, combining cheap North Korean labor with South Korean capital and technology.

Revenue generated there is considered one of the key sources of hard currency for the impoverished North.

South Korean companies pay the workers an aggregated $87 million annually in salaries, according to the unification ministry.

Park went on to say during the meeting that no country would be willing to invest in North Korea following its decision to suspend the joint complex.

"If North Korea breaches international regulations and promises like this, there will be no countries or companies that will make investments there," Park said. "If the complex does not operate properly, the inter-Korean cooperation fund will be used to cover the losses of South Korean companies operating there meaning less money for future inter-Korean cooperation projects."

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