North Korean workers work at a factory of South Korean apparel maker Shinwon in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, city of Kaesong, North Korea, in December 2013. The complex was suspended in 2016, but business executives in the South are calling for a reopening. File Photo by Park Jin-Hee/EPA-EFE

July 17 (UPI) -- South Korea is taking measures to prevent future losses for South Korean entities engaged in inter-Korea exchange, according to local reports.

A Seoul unification ministry official told reporters Tuesday laws protecting firms will be amended and strengthened, Money Today reported.


"We have drafted amendments to the Exchange and Cooperation Act to provide institutional support for inter-Korea exchange and cooperation," the South Korean official said.

The law would require Seoul to submit for Cabinet review any restrictions on inter-Korea projects, and provide economic support for businesses that are suspended for unforeseen reasons.

In 2016, former President Park Geun-hye ordered the shutdown of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, owing to nuclear tensions.

The policy created uproar among South Korean business executives who have said they had to bear the financial losses of the shutdown. The 2016 suspension also violated an agreement between the two Koreas, signed in 2013, to leave Kaesong unaffected by potential tensions on the peninsula.

The current restrictions against inter-Korea exchange apply in the following scenarios: North Korea imposes an unreasonable burden on exchange, North Korea poses military threats to the safety of South Korean citizens, international cooperation becomes a priority, or when an inter-Korea agreement is violated.

The South Korean official added the amendments do not affect South Korean sanctions against the North that are to remain in place.

A movement is building toward the reopening of Kaesong.

Kim Jin-hyang, chairman of the Kaesong Industrial District Foundation, said reopening the factories would be the first step toward cooperation, Yonhap reported.

"Inter-Korean economic cooperation cannot be discussed without the Kaesong Industrial Complex," Kim said last week.

"The Kaesong complex was not a special favor to the North. It was intended to support the South Korean economy stuck in a low-growth trap."