Ruling and opposition party lawmakers of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and unification are visiting the Gaeseong Industrial Complex in North Korea as part of parliamentary inspections.
 
The lawmakers entered the industrial park around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday through the Dorasan Inter-Korea Transit Office in Paju, Gyeonggi Province.
 
The legislators plan to visit four South Korean firms that produce clothes, underwear, shoes and cell phone parts. They will also inspect the factory park's infrastructure later in the afternoon.
 
The lawmakers will meet with the heads of South Korean firms operating in the industrial park before returning home at around 4 p.m.
 
The lawmakers’ visit is the first of its kind to be made since the launch of the Park Geun-hye government and to be held as part of parliamentary inspections.
 
Twenty-one out of the 24 members of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee are taking part in the Gaeseong park inspection.
 
Main opposition Democratic Party Chairman Kim Han-gil and ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker Lee Byung-suk were unable to join due to Wednesday’s by-elections. Saenuri Rep. Cho Myung-chul, a North Korean escapee-turned South Korean lawmaker, was denied entry to North Korea by Pyongyang.