South Korean businesspeople who have left behind their businesses at the now-shuttered Gaeseong Industrial Complex in North Korea will visit the U.S. Congress to explain the need to resume the inter-Korean industrial park.  

Shin Han-yong, the head of the emergency committee of the South Korean firms at Gaeseong, held a press conference in Seoul on Monday to reveal the details of their trip to the U.S. set to begin next Monday, including attending a briefing to be hosted by a subcommittee of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee. 

The committee said it will take the opportunity to explain to the U.S. changes that took place at Gaeseong during the period of about ten years when the inter-Korean complex was up and running. It said they will emphasize Gaeseong as a place of “small peace” and its ability to bridge the two Koreas in a way that politics cannot. 

Shin also called on North Korea to approve their planned visit to Gaeseong, saying the visit will be the first step in reopening the industrial zone. The South Korean government approved their request to visit Gaeseong last month.