The head of a U.S. congressional subcommittee dealing with Asian and nuclear issues says reopening the Gaeseong Industrial Complex in North Korea will be unlikely without any progress in denuclearization.

Brad Sherman, Chairman of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and Nonproliferation, shared his views on the matter Tuesday in meeting with a group of South Korean businesspeople who operated factories at the inter-Korean factory park.

Sherman said the prerequisite for lifting sanctions against the regime is that there should be progress in achieving a complete and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea.

The ranking Democrat said, however, that it could be possible for the U.S. and the North to reach a more moderate agreement over disarmament than the "complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement” Washington has demanded.  

The South Korean delegation emphasized the Gaeseong park helped ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula and that its resumption could also be beneficial to American firms. They also called on U.S. companies to join them in running businesses at the major inter-Korean economic project if and when it reopens.