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Corporate Association of Gaeseong (sic) Industrial Complex (CAGIC) Chairman Jeong Gi-seop announces plans for a delegation Kaesong Industrial Complex business owners to visit the US at the Central Government Complex in Seoul on June 3, . (Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer)
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Visit to focus on persuading Congress of the need to reopen complex
A delegation of Kaesong Industrial Complex business owners plans to visit the US on June 10–16 to persuade the US Congress and federal executive departments of the need to resume the complex’s operations.
Corporate Association of Gaeseong (sic) Industrial Complex (CAGIC) Chairman Jeong Gi-seop announced the plans for a “US Congress briefing on the Kaesong Complex in Washington” during a June 3 visit to the Ministry of Unification press room at the Central Government Complex in Seoul. During a briefing held by Rep. Brad Sherman, chair of the House Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and Nonproliferation, Jeong is to join Kaesong Industrial District Foundation Chairman Kim Jin-hyang and Korea Federation of SMEs Chairman Kim Ki-mun in explaining that the complex’s swift reopening is essential for peace on the Korean Peninsula. Kim Ki-mun is also chairman of Romanson, a watch manufacturing company operating in the Kaesong Industrial Complex.
“Since the members of the US Congress don’t seem to have an accurate understanding of the reality of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, we want to tell them about the complex’s importance and the changes over the past 10 years,” Jeong explained.
“We planned this US visit as a way of doing our utmost to help the complex’s reopening rather than just standing back and watching the government,” he said.
“We intend to explain to the US Congress and executive departments that regardless of political ideology, the Kaesong Industrial Complex is an urgent matter with the livelihoods of over 200,000 South and North Koreans on the line,” he stressed.
During their visit, the delegation members also plan to hold roundtable discussions with experts from think tanks including the Stimson Center and United States Institute of Peace. They are also attempting to organize a meeting with State Department officials, although a schedule has reportedly not been finalized. Regarding the organization of an administration-approved visit to North Korea by businesspeople from the complex, Shin Han-yong, who heads the representative joint committee of the Kaesong Industrial Complex Company Emergency Countermeasures Committee, said, “We’re anticipating there will be a surprise approval [from North Korea] before the South Korea-US summit [in late June], which will allow them to go to the Kaesong Industrial Complex.”
By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer
Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
