개성공단 재개를 위한 검토와 향후 추진 과제

Abstract

Since the adoption of the Kaesong Industrial Complex Development Agreement in 2000, the Kaesong Industrial Complex has developed into a win-win economic cooperation model experiment site where 55,000 South and North Korean workers work together. From January to November 2015, the cumulative production of the Kaesong Industrial Complex was $520 million, up 62.5% from $320 million in 2010, and the number of workers reached 55,000. The Kaesong Industrial Complex project, which lasted for 16 years until February 2016, is a representative inter-Korean economic cooperation project that contains not only economic aspects but also a symbolic meaning of inter-Korean harmony. However, compared to the entire development plan of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, the current development area is 5%, the number of companies is 6%, and the employment manpower is only 15%, so there are many considerations to resume development as planned. Considering the dense and elaborately accumulated sanctions of the international community, there are many things to consider for the resumption of the Kaesong Industrial Complex. In particular, there are many tasks accumulated during the 12-year operation period from 2004 to 2016. Things to consider for the resumption of the Kaesong Industrial Complex include the international community’s sanctions against North Korea, protecting investment assets and resolving disputes, securing the number of visitors to the Kaesong Industrial Complex, preventing the recurrence of interruptions, addressing traffic, communication, and tariff problems, and efficient use of labor. It is not a violation of sanctions for businessmen to visit North Korea and inspect the facilities before the resumption of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, and it is a necessary measure to resume the complex. When the Kaesong Industrial Complex was suspended in 2013, tenant companies visited North Korea on July 10 to inspect the facility and restarted it on September 16. In May 2019, the Ministry of Unification approved the application to visit North Korea for the purpose of verifying the assets of businessmen in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, but the visit was not achieved due to North Korea’s lack of response. Inspection of facilities through businessmen’s visit to North Korea is a task that can be reviewed first. Tourism in the Kaesong area, the first representative project that can be pursued in the face of sanctions, can also be considered. This is because non-material human exchange cooperation in the fields of tourism, education, administrative infrastructure, sports, and culture can be reviewed first. Small-scale human traffic can be promoted in the tourism field that does not violate international sanctions against North Korea. One-day tours to Geumgangsan Mountain and Kaesong are expected to be possible while complying with international sanctions on North Korea as there is no need for facility renovation, materials, and supplies. In order to fully restart the Kaesong Industrial Complex, upgrade the first phase of the Kaesong Industrial Complex project, and promote the second phase, sanctions relief measures at the level of lifting the Security Council Sanctions No. 2270 adopted in March 2016 are needed. Once conditions are created for the resumption of the existing inter-Korean economic cooperation project, it is necessary to establish the Kaesong Industrial Complex project as a successful economic cooperation model for inter-Korean co-prosperity. It is necessary to expand and develop the Kaesong Industrial Complex project, a representative inter-Korean economic cooperation project that occupies an absolute proportion of inter-Korean economic cooperation after the suspension of the Geumgangsan Mountain tour. The development of the second Kaesong Industrial Complex can be considered after the Kaesong Industrial Complex is fully developed and stabilized first, such as the internalization of the first stage and the promotion of the second stage. In order for the Kaesong Industrial Complex to expand and develop in the mid- to long-term, it is necessary to push for an integrated model and internationalization at the same time, while also trying to recognize Korean products in the Kaesong Industrial Complex. In order to resume the development of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, it is necessary to expand from the labor-intensive manufacturing industrial complex to two to three stages and expand to the integrated Kaesong Industrial District, where the production of high-tech and high-value products, tourism, commerce, and logistics are developed together. To this end, it is necessary to consider ways to gradually expand the scope of cooperation, starting with research and technology exchanges, considering constraints such as international sanctions and strategic export control.