It is unlikely that North and South Korea will be able to hold a working group meeting to address issues pertaining to the Kaesong Industrial Complex on Monday, according to the Ministry of Unification.
Vice-minister of Unification Hong Yang Ho, speaking on a May 18th morning radio program announced, “There has been no reaction from the North. It may be hard to hold the meeting today.”
While not replying to the South’s suggestion of holding the meeting on the 15th, North Korea instead sent the South a notice declaring the current Kaesong Complex contracts null and void.
Vice-director Hong said, “The Mr. Yoo issue is basically not an item for negotiation. I believe that it can just be dealt with in accordance with the inter-Korean agreement, so we will talk about it with North Korea and the North should then follow the agreement and deal with it.”
Regarding the issue of Mr. Yoo and the North Korean notice on the Kaesong Complex contracts, Hong continued, “It is hard to figure out the North’s intent. Many experts have said that it is to increase benefit to them, to chart a course towards closing the Complex or to make South Korea change its policy towards North Korea. I cannot say conclusively, but it may be affected by economic and political elements in combination.”
Regarding the question of whether the South Korean administration has the possibility of the complete closure of the Kaesong Industrial Complex in mind, Vice-minister Hong answered, “We aren’t thinking about that. Our fundamental stance is to solve this issue through dialogue and cooperation with North Korea, because the government’s basic aim is the stable development of the Kaesong Complex.”
Therefore, the South Korean administration’s position is to come up with a way to close the Complex in certain serious cases and to solve the Mr. Yoo issue while trying to have a dialogue with the North.
Regarding whether South Korea intends to put forward any further suggestions for meetings with North Korea, an official in the South’s administration said, “We have to decide after further examination of the situation.”
Meanwhile, the Vice-spokesperson for the Ministry of Unification today said in the Ministry press briefing, “It’s hard to hold the meeting today. We are very sorry that North Korea has not replied to us. The South Korean government’s basic stance is that inter-Korean negotiations should not be suspended, and especially the Kaesong Complex problems should be solved by negotiations between the authorities of North and South. The South Korean government will suggest holding the follow-up meeting again at the proper time and in the proper ways.”
