“Even if North Korea reopens Kaesong, they’ve already lost credibility”

Several years ago, a small group of executives who invested in Kaesong chatted casually of even more grandiose plans: eventually, 10 Kaesong-like facilities in the North, employing 5 million total — one-fifth of the country.

Advertisement

“That was our vision,” said Song Ki-suk, a now-departed executive at an automobile components company that went into Kaesong…

Today, Kaesong is a grid of gray factories. Ninety percent of the master plan is undeveloped, and investment was frozen when North Korea launched a pair of attacks on the South in 2010. Business executives there say they’re at the whims of North Korea’s 30-year-old ruler, Kim Jong Un, who last Wednesday barred South Koreans from entering the plant, perhaps as a political show of force.

The barricade, now four days old, has potentially fatal implications for the companies at the plant, who are late distributing products to customers.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on HotAir Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement