South Korean companies based in the stalled inter-Korean Gaeseong Industrial Complex say they will request government approval to visit the complex amid the speculation that the North is secretly running factories there.  

Shin Han-yong, a cochairman of the emergency committee for the South Korean firms at Gaeseong, announced the plan on Wednesday, urging the North to stop its unilateral use of the South Korean companies’ assets.

He said the governments of the two Koreas should allow them to visit Gaeseong to check the suspicion and come up with countermeasures if it is proven true. 

Arguing that the Park Geun-hye administration is suspected to have closed the Gaeseong complex illegally, he called on the Moon Jae-in administration to compensate the South Korean firms over their loss from the closure.

Last Friday, the North Korean propaganda portal Uriminzokkiri said clothing factories in Gaeseong will run more vigorously than ever, suggesting that the factories are in operation.