The Policy Manager of the North Korean National Defense Commission (NDC) Kim Young Cheol and military authorities visited the Kaesong Industrial Complex on the 17th.
Spokesperson for the Ministry of Unification Kim Ho Nyon reported that, “Policy Manager of the NDC Kim Young Cheol and five other members of the North Korean military are visiting the Kaesong Complex. Kim explained the purpose of this visit: to check how well the December 1st Measures were being implemented and to figure out the current situation in the Kaesong Complex.”
The December 1st Measure required the reduction of South Korean residing personnel by 880, the curtailment of the numbers who can come and go to Kaesong through the Kyungui Line and fixed time slots when the train can run.
According to the spokesperson, Policy Manager Kim and his company notified Kaesong in advance yesterday; this morning they met with enterprise managers in the Kaesong Complex followed by the staff of the Kaesong Industrial Complex Management Committee and will visit factories on the 18th.
Accordingly, South Korean authorities are gauging whether the ultimate purpose of the Northern military authorities’ visit is to check the current situation of Kaesong or to hint that the South needs to take some additional action.
The South Korean authorities and experts believe that there will be additional follow-up measures, because North Korea announced that the December 1st Measure was the first step.
However, a full month has not passed since the move, and there haven’t been any events which could have damaged relations between the North and the South, so North Korea does not have any reason to elevate the level of pressure at this stage.
It is unusual, however, that military authorities should have visited the Kaesong Complex in this way, when it is actually managed by the Guidance Bureau for Developing Central Special Economic Zone.
