ROK to offer additional funds to Kaesong firms

SEOUL - The Republic of Korea's government planned to offer additional fund support to companies that halted operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex following the first financial aid earlier this month.

The government decided to provide 300 billion won ($270 million) in financial assistance to 123 ROK's companies at the Kaesong industrial park, the Ministry of Unification said in a joint statement with related ministries on Tuesday.

The fund will stem from the inter-Korean economic cooperation insurance program that can compensate losses in assets as much as 90 percent or 7 billion won per company.

The companies will lose their right to their assets at Kaesong in exchange for the insurance settlement, but they can have the priority right to buy the assets when the inter-Korean industrial zone is normalized.

The financial aid came after the government decided to offer its first emergency funds worth 300 billion won to the Kaesong companies on May 2. The ROK withdrew all their workers from the joint industrial park after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) rejected Seoul's dialogue offer to solve the deadlock at Kaesong.

Meanwhile, the government planned to offer additional funds through the supplementary budget if the first fund worth 300 billion won runs out.

It will also offer financial assistance to the Kaesong companies who want to maintain their personnel, while giving funds for jobless claims.