Press Conference Marking 10 Years Since Complete Shutdown of Kaesong Industrial Complex
Association Estimates Economic Losses at 1.3 Trillion Won
"Government Must Take a Responsible Stance on Resuming Operations"
"It has already been 10 years since I last visited my company, which is practically just around the corner."
The Western Front Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and the Kaesong Industrial Complex area, viewed from the border area of Paju, Gyeonggi Province, appear desolate. Yonhap News
On the morning of the 10th, Yoo Dongok, CEO of Daehwa Fuel Pump, said this as he gazed at the faint outline of the Kaesong Industrial Complex beyond the Inter-Korean Transit Office in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. Daehwa Fuel Pump, which he runs, was the third among 15 companies to move into the pilot zone of the Kaesong Industrial Complex in 2004. The factory grew rapidly amid expectations for the first inter-Korean economic cooperation project and the excitement of a fresh start. In a 4,000-square-meter (about 1,200-pyeong) building, 10 employees from the South and 150 employees from the North worked together. Within six years, by 2010, it had grown into a business with annual sales of 35 billion won and 350 employees. "There was joy in watching the company grow day by day," Yoo said, adding, "The North Korean employees, whose work skills were initially inexperienced, quickly learned their jobs and did their part."
Then in 2016, the situation was completely reversed when the closure of the Kaesong Industrial Complex was decided overnight. Yoo said he only heard the news three hours before the shutdown and had to leave the factory and employees behind in the North. As in the first suspension in 2013, he expected operations to return to normal in a short period of time, but news of a restart never came. "At least the companies gathered here today are the ones that managed to survive at home and abroad," he explained. "Regrettably, more than half of the companies that were based in the Kaesong Industrial Complex at the time have suspended operations or shut down."
On the 10th, representatives of companies operating in the Kaesong Industrial Complex are holding a press conference in front of the Inter-Korean Transit Office gate in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. Kaesong Industrial Complex Companies Association
On this day, representatives of companies based in the Kaesong Industrial Complex gathered in front of the Inter-Korean Transit Office gate to hold a press conference calling for the swift resumption of operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex and the establishment of a government compensation plan for their losses. Around 80 people attended, including officials from organizations such as the Kaesong Industrial Complex Companies Association and the Kaesong Industrial District Foundation, representatives from 34 tenant companies, and members of the press.
In an appeal for approval to visit the North, Park Yongman, CEO of Green Fiber, said, "We operated our factory in the Kaesong Industrial Complex for nine years, and before I knew it, the time spent waiting for the factory to resume operations has exceeded 10 years. Now, the time we have spent missing and waiting for them has become longer than the time we actually worked together," adding, "I can still clearly picture the faces of the more than 150 North Korean workers I met even before the factory was completed. There were many trials and errors, and there were times when feelings were hurt, but even those memories now come back as a faint, bittersweet longing."
The Kaesong Industrial Complex was launched in 2004 as a flagship inter-Korean economic cooperation model that combined North Korea's labor force with South Korea's technological prowess. During the Park Geunhye administration, it was fully suspended in 2016 under the pretext of responding to North Korea's fourth nuclear test and long-range missile launch. During this period, South Korean small and medium-sized enterprises that had invested hundreds of billions of won to move into the Kaesong Industrial Complex were forced to shoulder enormous economic losses, including facility investment costs and labor costs. According to estimates by the Kaesong Industrial Complex Companies Association, the actual scale of damage suffered by these companies amounts to 1.3 trillion won.
CEO Park Yongman lamented, "Even after the full suspension, we emptied out a building that had once been leased out and converted it back into a factory, and we somehow kept operations going to hold on," adding, "However, we could no longer endure, and at the end of December 2023, we had no choice but to let most of our executives and employees go."
On the 10th, representatives of companies based in the Kaesong Industrial Complex held a press conference in front of the South-North Entry Office gate in Paju, Gyeonggi Province to mark the 10th anniversary of the suspension of operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex. Kaesong Industrial Complex Companies Association
Tenant companies have begun urging the government to come up with measures to resume operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex. In 2013, the two Koreas held working-level talks and signed an agreement guaranteeing the normal operation of the Kaesong Industrial Complex regardless of political and military tensions, thereby encouraging South Korean companies to move in, but the complex was shut down just three years later. According to the association, 40 companies, or 32% of the tenants, are now in a state of suspended or closed operations. In 2020, North Korea blew up the building of the Inter-Korean Liaison Office located in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, citing the scattering of anti-Pyongyang leaflets by North Korean defector groups as the reason.
Kim Jin-hyang, former chairman of the Kaesong Industrial District Foundation, said, "In 2016, the government notified businesspeople of the suspension of the Kaesong Industrial Complex only three hours in advance and unilaterally shut the door on its 14-year history. The tenant companies did nothing wrong; they simply entered the Kaesong Industrial Complex trusting the government's promises," adding, "We want to clearly convey our request that the government at least lift the 'May 24 Measure,' which is regarded as a symbol of sanctions against North Korea. We urge the Ministry of Unification and other relevant ministries and agencies not to forget the Kaesong Industrial Complex and to pay attention to its resumption."
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