To make up for their losses following the closure of the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC) back in early February, 44 of the 124 small and medium enterprises (SME) that once saw the area as a major production hub found financial security blankets abroad.

And though it may make perfect economic sense for these SMEs to seek alternative sources in production facilities like China and Cambodia, where labor costs for textile manufacturing and food production are still relatively cheap, one owner tells NK News that an overseas move would be an impractical venture for his business.