South, North Koreas Agree to Reopen Kaesong Area

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South, North Koreas Agree to Reopen Kaesong Area - Report

RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED August 26, 2013

South and North Korea have agreed to resume the operation of their troubled joint industrial area after Pyongyang promised not to shut the park down again, South Korean media have reported.

The two Koreas also agreed to “internationalize” the Kaesong zone in the North's eponymous border city by hosting foreign investors, a proposal announced by Seoul to prevent Pyongyang from taking action against the industrial park, said a five-point statement issued at the end of the day-long talks, the Yonhap news agency reported Wednesday.

The reopening date for the area, which has been idle since early April, has not been named yet. It will depend on when over 123 impacted South Korean firms complete maintenance checkups on their facilities there.

A joint committee will be established to supervise the operation of the industrial zone and related issues.

The talks came after months of high tensions on the Korean Peninsula intensified by North Korea's third nuclear test in February and its threats of launching nuclear attacks against South Korea and Washington.

In a further sign of escalating tensions between the North and South, Pyongyang suspended from April all operations at Kaesong and pulled out all of its 53,000 staff working for the 123 South Korean companies. Six days before, the North banned South Korean personnel from entering the complex.

The United Nations and Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday welcomed the agreement reached by the two Koreas to reopen the Kaesong industrial park.

Topics: Asia, DPRK, South Korea

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