Parliamentary committee seeking on-spot audit of Kaesong park

South Korea's parliament is pushing for an on-spot inspection of an inter-Korean factory zone in the North that has recently resumed partial operations after an over five-month hiatus, sources said Sunday. The Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North's border city of the same name reopened in mid-September, more than five months after it came to a full stop following Pyongyang's withdrawal of all its workers from the zone, the last remaining symbol of inter-Koren cooperation. "The National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee is pushing to carry out an inspection of the Kaesong factory park around Oct. 30," a committee member said. The move comes as there is a need to have a first-hand look at the current situation of the industrial complex and check what support measures the parliament can provide to help it run smoothly, he said. The parliamentary committee plans to submit a formal application for a visit to North Korea to the government sooner or later, the source added. All South Koreans are required to obtain prior government approval to visit North Korea. Political sources said it remains to be seen whether South Korean lawmakers can visit the factory complex as inter-Korean relations have recently cooled. In late September, North Korea unilaterally put off a series of reunions for families separated by the Korean War six decades ago, citing Seoul's confrontational policy. Ratcheting up its criticism of Seoul, Pyongyang on Friday slammed the South Korean president and reiterated its resolve to simultaneously develop its nuclear capability and economy. South and North Korea remain technically in a state of war since the 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.