Kaesong Industrial Region

Kaesong Industrial Region
Special administrative industrial region
Korean transcription(s)
• Hangul	개성공업지구
• Hanja	開城工業地區
• Revised Romanization	Gaeseong Gongeop Jigu
• McCune–Reischauer	Kaesŏng Kongŏp Chigu
Short name transcription(s)
• Hangul	개성공단
• Hanja	開城工團
• Revised Romanization	Gaeseonggongdan
• McCune–Reischauer	Kaesŏnggongdan
Factories in Kaesong
Map of North Korea highlighting the region
Country	North Korea
Government
• Type	Industrial Region
Area
• Total	66 km2 (25 sq mi)
Dialect	Seoul
Split from Kaesŏng Directly Governed City in 2002.

The Kaesŏng Industrial Region (KIR) or Kaesŏng Industrial Zone (KIZ) is a special administrative industrial region of North Korea (DPRK). It was formed in 2002 from part of the Kaesŏng Directly-Governed City. On 10 February 2016, it was temporarily closed by the South Korean government and all staff recalled by the Park Geun-hye administration,^[1] although the former President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, signalled his desire to "reopen and expand" the region in 2017.^[2]

Its most notable feature is the Kaesŏng industrial park, which operated from 2004 to 2016 as a collaborative economic development with South Korea (ROK). The park is located ten kilometres (six miles) north of the Korean Demilitarized Zone, an hour's drive from Seoul, with direct road and rail access to South Korea. The park allows South Korean companies to employ cheap labour that is educated, skilled, and fluent in Korean, whilst providing North Korea with an important source of foreign currency.^[3]

As of April 2013^[update], 123 South Korean companies were employing approximately 53,000 DPRK workers and 800 ROK staff.^[4]

At times of tension between North and South Korea, southern access to the Industrial Park has been restricted.^[3] On 3 April 2013, during the 2013 Korean crisis, North Korea blocked access to the region to all South Korean citizens. On 8 April 2013, the North Korean government removed all 53,000 North Korean workers from the Kaesŏng industrial park, which effectively shut down all activities.^[4][5] On 15 August 2013, both countries agreed that the industrial park should be reopened.^[6]

On 10 February 2016, the South Korean Ministry of Unification announced that the industrial park would be "temporarily" closed down and all staff recalled, partly in protest over continued North Korean provocations, including a satellite launch and a claimed hydrogen bomb test in January 2016.^[1] The next day, the North announced it was expelling all South Korean workers and said it will freeze all South Korean assets and equipment at the jointly run factory park. All 280 South Korean workers present at Kaesŏng left hours after the announcement by the North.