Support foundation for Gaesong complex set to be dismantled

A woman passes by the logo of the Gaesong Industrial District Foundation, a support foundation for the now-suspended Gaesong Industrial Complex, in this Oct. 18, 2018 file photo. Korea Times photo by Choi Heung-soo

The foundation meant to support the now-shuttered inter-Korean factory park in the North Korean border city of Gaesong was set to hold a board meeting Wednesday to approve its dissolution amid frosty inter-Korean ties, government officials said.

The government earlier decided to dismantle the foundation — set up in 2007 to assist the operation for the Gaesong Industrial Complex — as it has almost ceased to function since Seoul's 2016 shutdown of the joint factory park over North Korea's nuclear and long-range missile tests.

Later in the day, the foundation will hold a board meeting to approve a proposal to dismantle the organization and designate a liquidator.

The government will entrust the foundation's tasks to the South-North Korea Exchanges and Cooperation Support Association, a public organization handling inter-Korean exchange affairs

The unification ministry is currently reviewing legal action against North Korea over its continued unauthorized operation of the factory park. The North is believed to be running around 30 South Korean-owned facilities illegally.

The factory park, once a symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation, was home to more than 120 small South Korean plants that produced garments and other labor-intensive goods by employing more than 54,300 North Korean workers. (Yonhap)