SEOUL, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- North and South Korea said Wednesday they have agreed to reopen the Kaesong industrial park in the North's border city of the same name.
The two countries said the accord came after a pledge by Pyongyang never to shut the joint park down again "under any circumstances," South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported.
The two Koreas also agreed to "internationalize" Kaesong by hosting foreign visitors at the factory park, a move Seoul proposed to make it more difficult for North Korea to take any action against the facility.
After daylong negotiations, the two sides failed to come to an agreement on a date to reopen the zone that has been idle since early April.
They said reopening would depend on how soon the 120 South Korean companies impacted by the shutdown can complete maintenance checkups on their facilities at Kaesong.
A joint committee will be set up to supervise future operation of the factory park, including compensation for South Korean plants.
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