S. Korea calls for active response from DRPK in Kaesong committee meeting

South Korea's Unification Ministry in charge of inter-Korean relations on Monday called for active response from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the upcoming joint committee meeting to reopen the Kaesong industrial complex.

"What results would come out (in the second meeting of the Kaesong joint management committee) depends on how aggressively North Korea (DPRK) will respond," Kim Hyung-seok, Unification Ministry spokesman, told a press briefing.

Seoul and Pyongyang held the first meeting of the joint management committee last Monday to fully reopen the jointly operated factory park in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong.

The two Koreas agreed in principle to normalize the industrial zone in mid-August, but they had yet to agree on when to reopen it and how to manage it. The Kaesong industrial zone, where 123 South Korean companies run factories, has been suspended for around five months.

Four subcommittees under the Kaesong joint committee held their separate working-level meetings last week, the results of which will serve as a basis for the upcoming joint committee meeting, Kim said.

South Korea and the DPRK restored a military hotline along the west coast starting from Sept. 6, one of Seoul's preconditions for fully reopening the industrial zone as the line was used to permit passage to and from Kaesong of South Korean personnel.

The upcoming joint committee meeting was expected to discuss the full reopening date of the Kaesong industrial zone.