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South Korea Inspects Industrial Complex


A bus carrying South Korean delegation leaves for North Korea's Kaesong city for a meeting, at the Unification bridge in Paju near the border village of Panmunjom, South Korea, Aug. 14, 2013.
A bus carrying South Korean delegation leaves for North Korea's Kaesong city for a meeting, at the Unification bridge in Paju near the border village of Panmunjom, South Korea, Aug. 14, 2013.
South Korean officials headed for North Korea Saturday to inspect the Kaesong Industrial complex, following a recent agreement between the two countries to resume its operation.

The jointly-run facility was shut down after the North pulled its 53,000 workers out in early April, blaming the South's joint military exercises with the U.S. for raising tensions. It was the first total shutdown of the complex since it opened in 2004.

North and South Korea agreed on Wednesday after a number of talks to restart production at the industrial park located in the North near the border of the two Koreas.

South Korean businesses use Kaesong to manufacture products with cheap North Korean labor.

The industrial park has provided a key source of foreign income to the leadership of the impoverished North.

Kaesong has served as the last remaining sign of cooperation between the two longtime foes.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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