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After months of deadlock, the inter-Korean Gaeseong Industrial Complex reopened for business
on Monday.
South Korean business owners made the short trip again this Tuesday to oversee their second
day of production,... and as our Kim Hyun-bin reports most are reporting that things have
changed for the better.
Over 3-hundred South Korean personnel streamed across the border to work on Tuesday to start
their second day back at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.
South Korea's Unification Ministry says that, out of the 1-hundred-23 South Korean firms
with facilities at Gaeseong, 90 returned to work on Monday and over 32-thousand North
Korean workers returned to their positions.
The North Koreans seemed pleased to be back at work.
"Since the North Koreans were unemployed over the last few months there seems to be an extra
desire to work hard,... but apart from that, the atmosphere doesn't seem that different
from last time."
"Most importantly, there has been a change in attitude from the North. I believe the
complex will become the backbone for enhancing inter-Korean economic cooperation in the future."
Finishing last-minute preparations on Monday morning, companies fired up their machines
in the afternoon.
The South Korean workers noted some of the positive changes that have been implemented
to make their lives a little more convenient.
South Korean personnel are now able to go in and out of the factory park up to 21 times
a day.
Before they only had limited access at a designated time.
In addition to the reopening, the two Koreas held their third joint committee meeting Monday
where they agreed to hold an investors' relations fair on October 31st at the factory park.
They'll attempt to attract foreign investment and develop the complex into a globally competitive
production hub.
Other issues that were discussed included the implementation of an radio-frequency identification
system to speed up vehicle passage across the border.... as well as measures to better
ensure the safety of South Korean workers at Gaeseong.
Kim Hyun-bin, Arirang News.