Conditions should ripen for reopening inter-Korean factory park
South Korean businesspeople who ran factories in Gaeseong are likely to visit the now-suspended inter-Korean industrial park as early as next week.
If realized, it will be their first visit to the complex in the North Korean border town since February 2016. At the time, the Park Geun-hye administration closed the park abruptly in retaliation to the North's fourth nuclear test and long-range missile launch.
Given the scale and symbolic nature the complex has in inter-Korean economic cooperation, the government should precisely coordinate and carefully control various measures related to the park. All the more so considering the complicated situation now where the U.S. and North Korea are holding denuclearization talks amid Washington's economic sanctions on Pyongyang.
Some observers may think ― not without reason ― the visit is a prelude to the reopening of the joint industrial complex, as the two Koreas are speeding up rapprochement since their leaders held a third summit in Pyongyang in September.
However, government officials have made it clear the proposed visit is to protect the factory owners' property rights and check their assets. The businesspeople sustained massive losses, visible and invisible, two years and eight months ago because of the shutdown of the complex. So it is natural for Seoul to help them restore their property rights, whether it will reopen the park or not.
The Moon Jae-in administration cannot completely rule out the possibility of resuming its operation, not least because a summit declaration stipulated that "the South and North will normalize the Gaeseong Industrial Complex and the Mount Geumgang tourism project as soon as conditions are in place."
This notwithstanding, the government should not risk giving the impression that the ongoing moves presage sanctions relief for the North. Already, many U.S. officials suspect inter-Korean detente is progressing too fast to keep pace with the Washington-Pyongyang talks.
All this explains why Seoul should limit the purpose and meaning of the visit and prevent unnecessary misunderstandings with allies. Business owners also ought to wait calmly for the ripening of conditions before reactivating the park.
South Korean businesspeople who ran factories in Gaeseong are likely to visit the now-suspended inter-Korean industrial park as early as next week.
If realized, it will be their first visit to the complex in the North Korean border town since February 2016. At the time, the Park Geun-hye administration closed the park abruptly in retaliation to the North's fourth nuclear test and long-range missile launch.
Given the scale and symbolic nature the complex has in inter-Korean economic cooperation, the government should precisely coordinate and carefully control various measures related to the park. All the more so considering the complicated situation now where the U.S. and North Korea are holding denuclearization talks amid Washington's economic sanctions on Pyongyang.
Some observers may think ― not without reason ― the visit is a prelude to the reopening of the joint industrial complex, as the two Koreas are speeding up rapprochement since their leaders held a third summit in Pyongyang in September.
However, government officials have made it clear the proposed visit is to protect the factory owners' property rights and check their assets. The businesspeople sustained massive losses, visible and invisible, two years and eight months ago because of the shutdown of the complex. So it is natural for Seoul to help them restore their property rights, whether it will reopen the park or not.
The Moon Jae-in administration cannot completely rule out the possibility of resuming its operation, not least because a summit declaration stipulated that "the South and North will normalize the Gaeseong Industrial Complex and the Mount Geumgang tourism project as soon as conditions are in place."
This notwithstanding, the government should not risk giving the impression that the ongoing moves presage sanctions relief for the North. Already, many U.S. officials suspect inter-Korean detente is progressing too fast to keep pace with the Washington-Pyongyang talks.
All this explains why Seoul should limit the purpose and meaning of the visit and prevent unnecessary misunderstandings with allies. Business owners also ought to wait calmly for the ripening of conditions before reactivating the park.
