South Korea on Thursday said it was prepared for preliminary talks with the North over the jointly run industrial park at Kaesong that stopped operating in April amid heightened tensions between the two countries.
Seoul sent a message with the offer to Pyongyang early on Thursday, saying talks could be held in the border village of Panmunjom, the Ministry of Unification said.
“Seoul’s stance remains consistent and centres on government authorities resolving all outstanding issues through dialogue,” it said.
Seoul’s Thursday announcement came a day after Pyongyang said South Korean businessmen would be allowed to check on their facilities at the complex.
The compound at Kaesong, an enclave around 10 kilometres north of the border, has been closed since North Korea pulled out all its around 50,000 workers at the end of April, and the last South Korean managers left the industrial park on May 3.
Kaesong has been one of the North’s few sources of foreign currency income.