U.S. congressmen visit joint Korean industrial park

Those with doubts about Gaesong should see for themselves, says one visitor

Jim McDermott, Democratic Party member of the U.S. House of Representatives, recently returned from a visit to the Gaeseong (Kaesong) Industrial Park in North Korea with fellow House members Michael Honda and Eni Faleomavaega and told the Voice of America broadcasting on December 13 that he can "understand" why the South Korean government is pursuing the Gaeseong project. He also said it makes sense that the South Korean government would want to help their Korean brethren in the North, according to Korean-language media.

McDermott, Honda, and Faleomavaega are the first members of the U.S. House of Representatives to visit the North Korean city.

McDermott, who represents the 7th Congressional District of the U.S. state of Washington, said his first impression was that it reminded him of the early stages of trade areas in Hong Kong and Tianjin in China years ago. He said that "at least in our eyes," it did not look like people were working in slave-like conditions, and that he would like to tell anyone who has doubts about the industrial project to visit in person.

The Voice of America quotes him as saying that it is easily understandable that South Korea wants to help its brothers in North Korea, and that he was able to appreciate how the South wants to work with the North in order to reduce the economic shock the South faces with reunification. While the Kim Jong-il regime is clearly a very horrific one, McDermott said, the same was the case with the Soviet Union, and yet the U.S. nevertheless engaged the Soviets in dialogue. McDermott is quoted in Korean-language media as having said there is "no reason" the U.S. should not talk to Pyongyang, and that while it is a very positive development that the six-party talks are resuming, the U.S. should simultaneously move forward with bilateral talks with North Korea.

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