Seoul, entrepreneurs against the government: Reopen Kaesong
Closed five months ago because of increased tension between North and South of the peninsula, the inter-Korean industrial complex is under Pyongang army control. The South's government denies investors the ability to control plants, and 124 companies involved in the project at risk of bankruptcy.
Seoul (AsiaNews) - Five months since the closure of the inter-Korean industrial complex in Kaesong, the South's entrepreneurs who have invested time and money in it are demanding it be reopened "before it is too late".
The owners of the 124 industries in the complex - for years a sign of rapprochement between the two Koreas - denounce that they are being used like "political pawns" to attack: either the complex be restarted or they be fully compensated. Also because bankruptcy is imminent.
The inter-Korean industrial complex in Kaesong was opened in 2004 thanks to detente policies put in place by the then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung (ousted from office in 2003).
Since opening it has yielded to the Northern government about 616 billion won (about $ 560 million) in remittances and taxes. In essence, the area combines South Korean capital and technology with the North Korean labor: the 124 South companies that operated there last year employed 54 thousand workers from the North. In 2015 this resulted in assets worth approximately $ 550 million.
Along with the tour to Mount Kumgang, the "red" direct telephone line and the "peace village" of Panmunjon, the industrial complex has been for years one of the few bridges between the two nations. In February 2016, at the height of an escalation of military and bilateral diplomatic provocations, Pyongyang closed the structure. And Seoul, denounce entrepreneurs, "did not lift a finger to protect us".
The managing director of S & G, a company of the textile sector, says: "For years the government has praised us for our work in favor of cooperation between the two Koreas and has always promised that politics would have no impact on our business. We were told several times that we would be protected. Were they only empty promises? ".
Forced to leave the complex with 12 hours notice, now investors want to at least check the situation of the factories. But the request to visit was rejected, in early June, by the Ministry of Unification: a trip "would be inappropriate." For its part, the regime in Pyongyang announced that it has put the complex "under military control" and has said no more on the matter.
.png)
