By Li Hongmei

In what appeared to be a conciliatory move, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Tuesday invited South Korean officials as well as businessmen for talks on reopening a suspended joint industrial complex in its territory.

The joint industrial complex in the DPRK's border city of Kaesong remains shut down since early April when Pyongyang withdrew all of its 53,000 workers hired by 123 small-size South Korean factories operating there.

South Korea has since proposed working government-level talks to try to reopen the factory zone but the DPRK has turned it down, demanding that Seoul should first address more fundamental issues such as joint military exercises with the U.S.

On Tuesday, the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, the DPRK's arm for dealing with cross-border affairs with Seoul, said that Pyongyang is willing to start talks on the future of the industrial complex.

In a statement issued by its spokesman, the committee noted that the DPRK has already approved a plan by the South Korean business representatives to visit the industrial complex for maintenance and other purposes.

"We have given permission for the visit and can even discuss the shipment of products at the industrial complex," it said, adding that if the South Korean entrepreneurs visit the DPRK, discussions can be made on the normalization of the complex.

The DPRK's committee said it will fully guarantee safe passage of all South Koreans who would cross the border for the visit.

"If the South feels uneasy, it can send members of the Kaesong Industrial District Management Committee with the businessmen," the statement said. The committee is not a government organization but represents the country's interests in Kaesong. Its chairman Hong Yang-ho is a former Ministry of Unification vice minister.

South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, was cautious in assessing the DPRK's move, saying that government-level talks should be held first. It said business representatives have no authority to discuss the matter.

The DPRK leader Kim Jong Un's special envoy Choe Ryong-hae was in Beijing last week and promised to engage in dialogue with interested parties, including in the stalled six-party talks.

Pyongyang seems to be aiming to first hold talks with businessmen, followed by working level governmental talks that can pave the way for other exchanges, observers speculate.