Last Wednesday, North and South Korea agreed to reopen a shutdown industrial park. The agreement was after series of talks that transpired between the two countries. A joint statement was released stating that the two countries came down to an agreement of working together to reestablish the Kaesong industrial zone. The latter is a few miles away from the heavily fortified border of North Korea.

North Korea released a statement last week stating it would reopen the industrial zone. This was after South Korea said that it was willing to completely let the industrial park go. The decision from both parties regarding the joint move was welcomed in Washington.  

Last April, North Korea pulled out approximately 53,000 workers from the factory. This was during the height of the tension between the two countries. According to Lee Sang-man, a professor at the ChungAng University and an expert in the North Korean economy, the move untangled knots between the two countries and would make the Kaesong industrial zone more solid.