South Korea says the North has made a surprise offer to allow South Korean business people to inspect their equipment at a shuttered joint industrial complex on the northern side of the inter-Korean border.

The South Korean unification ministry said North Korea delivered the offer Wednesday through a hotline at the border truce village of Panmunjom. The North Korean phone call reactivated a communication channel the North largely had suspended during recent months of tension with the South.

The Kaesong industrial complex has been closed since April, when the North withdrew its workers and blocked access by the South Korean companies who used it to produce industrial goods with low-cost North Korean labor.

Earlier in the day, the South Korean businesses called for their government to negotiate with Pyongyang on reviving the complex or allow them to relocate their equipment to South Korea or third countries to prevent damage during the rainy season.

Seoul said it was considering Pyongyang’s offer to let the businesses visit Kaesong. There was no word on whether the complex would be re-opened. [Read More]

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Source: VOA News: Economy and Finance