Anchor: Expectations are growing that the shuttered inter-Korean industrial complex in the North Korean border city of Gaeseong may resume operations following a second summit between Washington and Pyongyang.
Lee Bo-kyung has the story.

Report: Over the past three years, South Korean businesses with operations at the Gaeseong industrial park have made multiple requests to the government for cross-border trips to check their facilities, but were denied.

Following U.S. President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday, however, optimism is growing.

Shin Han-yong, president of the Corporate Association of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, said that South Korean businesses are pushing to visit Gaeseong after a second summit between North Korea and the United States.

The businesses plan to request state approval again on Monday, a day after the third anniversary of the shutdown of the complex.

The Park Geun-hye administration closed the industrial complex on February tenth, 2016 in the wake of North Korean nuclear and missile provocations. With the sudden closure, South Korean businesses were ordered to leave on short notice. 

The companies hope the second summit will lead to sanctions exemptions for three major inter-Korean projects -- the industrial complex, tours to Mount Geumgang in the North and reconnecting the roads and railways of the two Koreas.

Trump announced during his State of the Union address on Tuesday that his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will take place in Vietnam on February 27th and 28th.

The announcement came as U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun was visiting the North Korean capital of Pyongyang to meet with his North Korean counterpart Kim Hyok-chol.
Lee Bo-Kyung, KBS World Radio News.