‘I didn’t even get to say goodbye’: South Koreans remember Kaesong’s sudden end



Interviews ‘I didn’t even get to say goodbye’: South Koreans remember Kaesong’s sudden end Five years ago, the Kaesong Industrial Complex shut down and sent thousands of North and South Koreans packing Jeongmin Kim February 10, 2021 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON Joint Photo Press Corps / File photo \| Workers at Kaesong Industrial Complex, SK Apparel unit, Sept. 2013 Kim Seo-jin still remembers the day he frantically packed his bags and exited the Kaesong Industrial Complex after years of working alongside North Korean laborers. “We shared the workplace for almost 10 years and, at the end, I didn’t even get to say goodbye,” he bitterly recalled, with a sigh. “I still think about the North Koreans that we used to see every day. I wonder how they are doing, if the youngsters ever got married — where they are working these days.” Kim Seo-jin still remembers the day he frantically packed his bags and exited the Kaesong Industrial Complex after years of working alongside North Korean laborers. “We shared the workplace for almost 10 years and, at the end, I didn’t even get to say goodbye,” he bitterly recalled, with a sigh. “I still think about the North Koreans that we used to see every day. I wonder how they are doing, if the youngsters ever got married — where they are working these days.” Try unlimited access Only $1 for four weeks Unlimited access to all of NK News: reporting, investigations, analysis Year-one discount if you continue past $1 trial period The NK News Daily Update, an email newsletter to keep you in the loop Searchable archive of all content, photo galleries, special columns Contact NK News reporters with tips or requests for reporting Get unlimited access to all NK News content, including original reporting, investigations, and analyses by our team of DPRK experts. Subscribe now All major cards accepted. No commitments – you can cancel any time. © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. Get the Daily Update Start your day with the North Korea stories that matter most – as selected by And how should we address you in correspondence? One more step! Please check your inbox, for an email we just sent you, and click on the confirmation message in it to get subscribed to our Daily News Update. Trending

Interviews

‘I didn’t even get to say goodbye’: South Koreans remember Kaesong’s sudden end

Five years ago, the Kaesong Industrial Complex shut down and sent thousands of North and South Koreans packing

Jeongmin Kim February 10, 2021

‘I didn’t even get to say goodbye’: South Koreans remember Kaesong’s sudden end

Joint Photo Press Corps / File photo | Workers at Kaesong Industrial Complex, SK Apparel unit, Sept. 2013

Kim Seo-jin still remembers the day he frantically packed his bags and exited the Kaesong Industrial Complex after years of working alongside North Korean laborers.

“We shared the workplace for almost 10 years and, at the end, I didn’t even get to say goodbye,” he bitterly recalled, with a sigh. “I still think about the North Koreans that we used to see every day. I wonder how they are doing, if the youngsters ever got married — where they are working these days.”

Try unlimited access
Only $1 for four weeks

Unlimited access to all of NK News: reporting, investigations, analysis
Year-one discount if you continue past $1 trial period
The NK News Daily Update, an email newsletter to keep you in the loop
Searchable archive of all content, photo galleries, special columns
Contact NK News reporters with tips or requests for reporting

Get unlimited access to all NK News content, including original reporting, investigations, and analyses by our team of DPRK experts.

Subscribe now

All major cards accepted. No commitments – you can cancel any time.

‘I didn’t even get to say goodbye’: South Koreans remember Kaesong’s sudden end

Try unlimited accessOnly $1 for four weeks

Start your day with the North Korea stories that matter most –

as selected by <img width="226" height="50" class="logo" src="https://www.nknews.org/wp-content/themes/nknews/images/header-logo.png" alt="NK News Logo">

One more step!

Trending

Recent Stories

About the Author

Jeongmin Kim

Try unlimited access
Only $1 for four weeks

Start your day with
the North Korea stories that matter most –

as selected by