开城工业园重建日期确定

 

The two sides set a date for a "trial" restart of 16 September after talks that went through the night, the South's Unification Ministry¹ said.

 

Work at the complex stopped in April when the North withdrew its workers amid high political tension. 

 

The zone, just inside North Korea, is home to 123 South Korean factories that employ more than 50,000 North Koreans.

 

It is the last functioning inter-Korean joint² project and a key source of revenue for Pyongyang.

 

 

Operations will "resume on a trial basis from 16 September", a statement from the Unification Ministry said.

 

South Korean firms will be exempt³ from taxes for the rest of the year to offset⁴ losses incurred⁵ while the complex was closed, it said.

 

The two sides also agreed to measures to make access to the site easier for South Korean businessmen, Yonhap news agency reported. 

 

The Unification Ministry also said that the two Koreas planned to host a roadshow to try and attract foreign investors⁶ to the zone in October.

 

Allowing foreign investors into Kaesong is seen by Seoul as a way of ensuring Pyongyang does not unilaterally（单方面地） close the complex again. 

 

"The institutional foundation has now been laid for Kaesong to develop into an internationally competitive and stable industrial complex," the ministry said.

 

Pyongyang's removal of its workers in April came amid high tensions on the Korean peninsula in the wake of North Korea's third nuclear test on 12 February. 

 

The test resulted in the imposition of expanded UN sanctions. Shortly afterwards, South Korea and the US launched annual military drills, angering Pyongyang.

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