The ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs contends that North Korea has been operating some 30 South Korean-owned facilities at the now-shuttered Gaeseong joint industrial park without authorization. 

In a briefing on Friday, unification ministry spokesperson Koo Byoung-sam said North Korea’s illegal acts constitute a clear violation of agreements between the two sides, warning of possible legal actions against the regime.

The ministry called on Pyongyang to “immediately” halt actions that violate the property rights of South Korean owners, which began with the detonation of the inter-Korean liaison office in 2020 that the regime is now clearing the debris of.

Seoul shut down the complex in February 2016 in response to Pyongyang’s nuclear and long-range missile tests, with the destruction of the liaison office coming four years later to protest South Korea’s failure to stop North Korean defectors from sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.