The South Korean government has agreed on a package of emergency funding for previously successful businesses involved in inter-Korean activities that have been suffering under the May 24th Measures.
The government has given loans to such businesses on occasions in the past, but this is the first time that funding has been handed out at no cost.
The Ministry of Unification revealed the news today, saying, “The inter-Korean Cooperation and Exchange Promotion Committee has decided to use a total of 75 billion Korean Won from the inter-Korean Cooperation Fund to support South-North trade and economic cooperative businesses.”
The support is designed to help companies that had been realizing a return on investments inside North Korea in the years prior to the implementation of the May 24th Measures in 2010. Individual companies will receive between five and 20 million won.
However, companies in the Kaesong Industrial Complex and those that went out of business before the May 24th Measures entered force are to be excluded from receiving support. The government will take applications through Korea Eximbank from the 19th for three months, before assessing each application on its merits.
