By Kim Bo-eun

A group of businesspeople who had operations at the now-stalled inter-Korean industrial complex in the North Korean border city of Gaeseong will visit there next week.

They will inspect production facilities there, South Korean officials said Wednesday. However, speculation is rampant that their visit is a step toward reopening the complex.

The issue could create a rift between Seoul and Washington, which have been reportedly at odds over maintaining sanctions against Pyongyang. The U.S. has insisted reopening the complex would violate international sanctions.

The visit will be the first since South Korea shut down the complex in February 2016, due to the North's missile and nuclear provocations. Since then, the businesspeople have filed six requests for visits, including three this year _ the unification ministry has turned all of them down.

The ministry's approval this time is seen as reflecting the current circumstances in which economic cooperation with the North has seemingly become more viable. The ministry, however, said the visit was not related to resuming operations at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex (GIC).

'Restart of Gaesong complex impossible under int'l sanctions': Cheong Wa Dae 2018-10-25 10:38  |  North Korea
"The plan for the businesspeople to visit the GIC has nothing to do with the resumption of its operation," said Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun.

"The ministry considered that the South Korean businesspeople had made repeated requests to visit, and that the planned one is to inspect assets in order to protect their property rights."

Still, the visit is seen as a positive sign for prospective resumption of the GIC's operation.

The spokesman referred to Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon's remarks at a National Assembly audit held earlier this month to explain why the ministry was only now approving their visit.

To lawmakers' questions, Cho said the Koreas were discussing the issue of the visit to the GIC. The owners of businesses active at the inter-Korean industrial complex have been suffering losses due to the shutdown.

The spokesman also referred to the Pyongyang Declaration that was reached at the third inter-Korean summit last month. The declaration states that the Koreas will seek to resume the operation of the GIC as well as tours to Mount Geumgang in the North "when conditions are met."

With an agreement reached between the Koreas this week to modernize 10 tree nurseries in the North within the year, and hold a groundbreaking ceremony to connect railways of the South and North in November or December, views are that the prospects for inter-Korean economic cooperation appear bright.

However, the planned visit is set to take place amid growing U.S. concerns on moving forward with inter-Korean economic cooperation amid a lack of progress on North Korea's denuclearization.