DPRK proposes talks on reopening Kaesong complex

SEOUL - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea proposed to hold the seventh round of working-level talks with the Republic of Korea next week on the reopening of a joint industrial park, the official news agency KCNA reported Wednesday.

The Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a statement that the DPRK will allow ROK's firms full access to the Kaesong complex, which was suspended four months ago.

The DPRK will ensure the normal attendance of its own workers, and the safety of the ROK's personnel will also be guaranteed in the industrial zone, said the statement carried by the KCNA.

If the ROK responds to its expression of "this bold and magnanimous stand", the DPRK "will hold without any precondition the seventh round of the working-level talks for normalizing operation" in the Kaesong complex on August 14, said the statement.

The Kaesong industrial complex, where 123 companies from the ROK run factories, has been suspended since the DPRK pulled out around 53,000 of its workers in early April in protest against the joint annual military exercises between the ROK and the United States.