Seoul considers including Kaesong industrial park as part of N.K. sanctions

In the wake of North Korea’s launch of a long-range missile on Sunday, the South Korean government said it is considering withdrawal of South Korean companies from or closure of the inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Park as part of measures of sanctions against the North.

At reporting on an emergency issue at the parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, South Korean Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo said, “We are considering all possible measures (of sanctions) that include the Kaesong complex,” adding, “It is necessary to consider measures at the dimension of sanctions to correct the North’s ill-advised behaviors.” Hong went on to say, “We will reduce the number of (South Koreans) stationed at the Kaesong industrial complex from the current 600 - 700 to about 500. We are examining how the South can punish North Korea severely and make the North pay price, and direct Pyongyang towards denuclearization through additional measures.”

On the minister’s comments, a South Korean government source said, “His remarks were made in consultations with the presidential office,” adding, “It is a move that has gone a step further from the time after the North’s fourth nuclear test.” The source thus indicated that the South Korean government would consider withdrawing South Korean nationals stationed at the Kaesong industrial complex as part of efforts to ensure their safety in case of safety threats as part of contingency plans, but now the South changed the dimension to consider including the complex as part sanctions against Pyongyang.

Another South Korean government source said, “We will consider sanctions through the Kaesong complex ranging from measures as significant as closure of the park to lighter measures such as removal of various special benefits that have been provided to the North.” Measures under consideration include halt of purchase of materials meant for protection of North Korean labor that are provided to North Korean workers at the Kaesong complex, and postponement of rent payment for use of land amounting to 620 million won (518,000 US dollars) that the South is required to pay the North yearly from this month. In his reporting at the parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, Minister Hong said, “We will strictly follow the May 24 (2010) measures, beef up control of shipments to the North, and adopt sanctions of marine shipping.”

As for the timing to impose sanctions through the Kaesong complex, however, the South Korean government put the condition of “By monitoring North Korean sanctions imposed by the international community.” The Unification Ministry of South Korea said, “We will consider additional measures deemed necessary while managing the Kaesong Complex in a way that thoroughly follows the U.N. sanctions, when the U.N. Security Council adopts sanctions against the North.”

South Korean companies that have operations at the Kaesong complex have grown all the more anxious. “When the Kaesong complex was suspended and resumed operation in 2013, North Korea launched a long-range missile and conducted a nuclear test,” said Chung Ji-seop, chairman of the association of companies operating at Kaesong Industrial Park. "It is not appropriate to link the North Korean nuclear issue with the closure of the Kaesong industrial complex.”

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