South Korean companies doing business with or in North Korea are apparently taken aback by the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

Currently, 123 South Korean companies operate in the inter-Korean joint venture Gaeseong Industrial Complex in North Korea, and roughly 800 South Korean companies conduct business with the North.

An official of a company in the Gaeseong industrial park said in a phone interview that they learned about the death of the North Korea leader from the media, and that they have been operating as usual.

Other companies appear to be calm and careful about the news, saying that they are waiting for the South Korean government’s guidelines on how to act. But they worried that the North Korean leader’s death would have negative effects in a short term.

An association of South Korean companies operating in Gaeseong said that they have to follow the South Korean government’s decisions and are seeking to collect related information. The association added that it will make careful but swift reactions to any repercussions from Kim’s death.