Many Companies Willing to Return to Kaesong Industrial Complex

Expectations are growing about the reopening of the Kaesong Industrial Complex after the inter-Korean summit on April 27.

The Korea Federation of SMEs conducted a survey on April 29 on the 124 companies that operated in the complex, which was once the symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation. Of the 101 companies that answered the survey, 98.1% expected that the complex would be reopened before the end of the current President's term of office. In addition, 97 answered that they are willing to resume their business operations there once the complex is reopened.

Of the 97 companies, 79.4% cited the higher competitiveness of the Kaesong Industrial Complex as the reason for returning to it while 10.3% mentioned the lack of an alternative due to their limited investment capacity. More than 80 percent of the companies said the comparative advantages of the industrial complex include a lower labor cost.

As the biggest problem in returning to the complex, about two thirds of the respondents cited financial difficulties, while 23.7% mentioned overlapping facility investment. This implies that the South Korean government needs to provide support for the companies to return to the complex without much difficulty.