WASHINGTON: South Korea said on Thursday (Nov 15) it would not restart an industrial zone with North Korea until its neighbour moves to give up…
WASHINGTON: South Korea said on Thursday (Nov 15) it would not restart an industrial zone with North Korea until its neighbour moves to give up nuclear weapons, although it voiced hope for progress.
Cho Myoung-gyon, the South’s unification minister, said Seoul was abiding by international sanctions on Pyongyang despite President Moon Jae-in’s calls for a step-by-step easing of pressure.
“One thing I would like to highlight here is that we are not going to open the Kaesong industrial complex soon,” Cho said on a visit to Washington.
“The South Korean government has a very strong principle that both inter-Korean and foreign cooperation will happen once the denuclearisation of North Korea happens,” he said at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Kaesong – a border industrial zone in which South Korean companies enjoyed low-wage labor and the North’s government earned badly needed revenue – was one of the most visible signs of reconciliation that followed the landmark 2000 visit to Pyongyang by Kim Dae-jung, the South’s first liberal president.
