ROK, DPRK to hold 2nd Kaesong committee meeting

SEOUL - The Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea agreed to hold the second meeting of the joint committee on September 10 to discuss reopening of the Kaesong industrial complex, Seoul's Unification Ministry said Tuesday.

Delegates from both sides held the first meeting for around 12 hours on Monday at the support center of the joint industrial zone in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong, but they failed to agree on the full reopening date.

Seoul and Pyongyang agreed in principle to normalize the inter-Korean factory park in mid-August, but they had yet to agree on when to reopen it and how to manage it. The Kaesong industrial zone, where 123 South Korean companies run factories, has been suspended for around five months after the DPRK withdrew all of its workers from the factory park in early April.

The Unification Ministry said the two Koreas agreed to hold the second meeting of the joint management committee on September 10, noting that other meetings for four subcommittees will be held this week.

Meetings for the two subcommittees in charge of asset protection and global competitiveness will be held on Wednesday, and subcommittee meetings on personnel safety, passage, customs and communications will be held on Thursday.

Seoul delegates said in earlier meetings that military hotlines should be recovered to fully restart the joint factory park, noting that maintenance of facilities should be carried out and progress should be made in discussions to develop the industrial zone in a constructive way.

In response to those remarks, Pyongyang delegates reportedly reiterated their stance of normalizing the operation of the factory park as fast as possible.