The closure of the inter-Korean Kaesong industrial park last year was a unilateral decision made by former President Park Geun-hye, a civilian panel tasked with reviewing unification policies said Thursday.

The panel also said that unification policies should be codified, and that the Ministry of Unification should be given more independence and its views given more weight in setting related policies. 


“Contrary to the former administration’s announcement, it has been confirmed that (former) President Park Geun-hye ordered (South Korean entities) to withdraw from the Kaesong complex on Feb. 8, before the National Security Council meeting on Feb. 10,” the panel said.

According to the panel, Park’s Foreign Policy Secretary Kim Kyu-hyun informed then-Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo of Park’s decision to shut the complex down on Feb. 8.

The NSC, led by former Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin at the time, convened later in the day. Related plans were drawn up and announced on Feb. 10.

The Park administration had said that the decision was made by the NSC on Feb. 10. The complex was shut down in response to North Korea’s fourth nuclear test and long-range missile launch conducted on Jan. 6 and Feb. 7, respectively.

The panel, however, said that it was unable to verify how Park came to make the decision or if she discussed the issue with others. It has been alleged that Choi Soon-sil, who is accused of meddling in state affairs, was involved in the decision.

The panel’s report also said that the Park administration’s claim that North Korea was using Kaesong employees’ wages for the development of nuclear weapons lacked evidence.

“(The claim) lacked solid information or sufficient grounds, and was inserted by Cheong Wa Dae without consulting the concerned organizations,” the report said.

“The documents referenced at the time were based on circumstantial evidence, and based on defectors’ testimonies, and therefore lacked credibility and objectivity.”

The panel also raised issues with the execution of the measure, saying that the closing of the complex did not follow legal procedures and that the government neglected to protect South Korean investors’ assets.

“Legal basis for compensating losses sustained by businesses (involved in inter-Korean) economic cooperation projects should be established, and an insurance system for economic cooperation and trade should be improved,” the panel said.

The panel also said that the government needs to prepare for the reopening of the complex if conditions are met, and called for prohibiting the government from using North Korea-related information for political ends.

“North Korea intelligence being used politically must be prohibited,” the panel said, citing information regarding the defections of Thae Young-ho and a group of North Korean restaurant employees.

Thae is a former North Korean diplomat who defected to the South in August. He is the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat to have fled the regime. The mass defection by North Korean restaurant employees took place in April, and the information was revealed four days ahead of the April 13 general election last year. At the time, 13 North Koreans working at a Beijing restaurant operated by the North Korean government fled to the South.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)