MOSCOW, September 15 (RIA Novosti) - South Korea has urged North Korea to show more cooperation in its participation in a joint industrial park in Kaesong, South Korea's Unification Ministry said in a Monday press release.
"The globalization of the KIC [Kaesong Industrial Complex] has made little progress due to North Korea's uncooperative stance. North Korea will have to do what it should do for dialogue [on KIC's future] and its globalization." the ministry stated.
South Korea is waiting for the DPRK to make efforts to lure investors to the site and made the statement on the eve of the first anniversary of the park's reopening. No foreign companies are currently operating in the park. According to the Unification Ministry, more than 30 firms from Germany, China and other countries have shown interest in the complex.
Following North Korea's third nuclear test in February 2013 and its threats of launching nuclear attacks against South Korea and Washington, Pyongyang suspended from April 2013 all operations at Kaesong and pulled out all of its 53,000 staff working for the 123 South Korean companies.
The construction of Kaesong Industrial Complex started in 2003 and the park opened in 2004. The complex, located 10 kilometers (6 miles) away from the Korean Demilitarized Zone and occupying 66 square kilometers of land, was initially designed to employ up to 700,000 people.
