KAESONG INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

[Anchor Lead]

South Korean businesspeople who have left behind their businesses at the now-shuttered Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea, visited the U.S to explain the need to restart the inter-Korean joint venture. Attention is also being drawn to whether a South Korea-U.S. summit slated for later this month, could produce a breakthrough for the stalled negotiations on the North's denuclearization.

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​Representatives of South Korean businesspeople operating in the Kaesong Industrial Complex have visited Washington, three years and four months after the inter-Korean industrial park was closed down. The delegation plans to explain the value of the inter-Korean joint venture to the U.S. government and Congress and to show the need to re-open it. This is the first time the U.S. Congress will hear from South Korean businesspeople regarding the Kaesong Industrial Complex.

[Soundbite] KIM JIN-HYANG(CHAIRMAN, KAESONG INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX SUPPORT FOUNDATION) : "The South Korean delegation will explain to the U.S. that the process to pay North Korean workers is transparent and the fund is not diverted into producing weapons of mass destruction. We will also stress that the industrial park is not a dollar box for the regime."

However, there are many obstacles to overcome before operation of the industrial park can be resumed. UN Resolution 2375 bans joint business projects with North Korea. Therefore, paying North Korean workers in cash could constitute a violation of the resolution and sanctions against the regime. In a meeting with U.S. State Department officials, the businesspeople plan to emphasize the possibility that re-opening the industrial park could stimulate a market economy in North Korea and lead it to denuclearization. Meanwhile, the State Department said that a South Korea-U.S. summit scheduled for later this month will discuss ways to further strengthen the alliance between the two countries and ways to resume negotiations on the North's denuclearization. The department also said that throughout history, there have always been ups and downs in negotiations and that things are never linear. It added, however, that it is doing its utmost to restart the denuclearization talks.