Kaesŏng Industrial Region
| Kaesong Industrial Region | |
|---|---|
| Korean transcription(s) | |
| • Hangul | |
| • Hanja | |
| • Revised Romanization | Gaeseong Gongeop Jigu |
| • McCune–Reischauer | Kaesŏng Kongŏp Chigu |
| Short name transcription(s) | |
| • Hangul | |
| • Hanja | |
| • Revised Romanization | Gaeseong |
| • McCune–Reischauer | Kaesŏng |
 |
|
 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 Kaesong Industrial Region (KIR) or Kaesong Industrial Zone (KIZ) is a special administrative industrial region of North Korea (DPRK). It was formed in 2002 from part of the Kaesong Directly-Governed City. On February 10, 2016, it was "temporarily" closed by the South Korean government and all staff recalled.
Its most notable feature is the Kaesong industrial park, operated 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.
As of April 2013, 123 South Korean companies were employing approximately 53,000 DPRK workers and 800 ROK staff. Their wages, totalling $90 million each year, had been paid directly to the North Korean government.
At times of tension between North and South Korea, southern access to the Industrial Park has been restricted. 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 Kaesong industrial park, which effectively shut down all activities. On 15 August 2013, both countries agreed that the industrial park should be reopened.
On February 10, 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. 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 Kaesong left hours after the announcement by the North.
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Wikipedia