South Korean companies doing business with North Korea called on their government to lift its long-standing economic sanction on the North and resume a suspended cross-border tourist program.
 
At a news conference in Seoul on Tuesday, the representatives of the companies and their supporters claimed that around 80 percent of the companies have closed their doors due to the protraction of the May 24 measures, which have barred nearly all exchanges and trade with the North since 2010.
 
They said that lifting of the sanctions as well as the resumption of the tours to Mount Geumgang in the North should not be delayed further.
 
Around 160 South Korean companies involved in inter-Korean economic cooperation projects attended the press conference, together with around 30 civic or religious groups that have stood by the companies.
 
The collective action by the companies came a day after South Korean President Park Geun-hye said during her New Year’s news conference that lifting of the sanctions should be preceded by discussions between the two countries' authorities. Park said, however, she had no preconditions for an inter-Korean summit, indicating room for change in Seoul’s attitude toward Pyongyang.
 
The companies and their supporter groups, whose members took turns in staging one-man rallies for 200 consecutive days until recently, said they will plan to hold a joint rally every Tuesday beginning next week to keep urging the government to ease the sanctions on inter-Korean businesses. 
 
During the weekly campaign, they said they will also keep the public and media updated about the damages the companies have sustained from the sanctions.
 
The May 24 measures were imposed by former President Lee Myung-bak in the aftermath of the sinking of the South Korean naval ship Cheonan in March 2010.
 
The Mount Geumgang project was suspended in 2008 after the death of a South Korean tourist who was shot by a North Korean soldier near the Geumgang resort.