In June 2003, at the height of the Sunshine Policy of intra-Korean reconciliation, a ground-breaking ceremony took place near the North Korean city of Kaesong. The ceremony launched a construction project that in due time became the Kaesong Industrial Zone (KIZ), the largest of joint North-South projects realized so far.

Many observers (including myself) met the news with skepticism, but they – or should I say “we” – have been proven wrong: The project has survived and even prospered, though not to the extent that optimists hoped back in 2003.