Full Shutdown of the Kaesong Industrial Complex

Also called: Closure of the Kaesong Industrial Complex

After North Korea’s fourth nuclear test and a long-range missile launch, the South Korean government shut down the Kaesong Industrial Complex completely; the North expelled South Korean staff and froze their assets.

The complex had once stood idle for a little over five months in 2013, when North Korea withdrew its workers, before reopening. After the North’s fourth nuclear test on 6 January 2016 and a long-range missile launch on 7 February, the Park Geun-hye government announced on 10 February that it was suspending all operations, on the grounds that wages paid there could fund nuclear and missile development.

The next day North Korea declared the complex a military control zone, expelled all South Korean personnel and froze South Korean assets. More than 120 resident companies closed their factories, and the symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation since 2004 came to a halt.