South Korea offered working-level talks with North Korea on raw materials and finished products in a joint industrial complex closed by military tensions, the Unification Ministry said Tuesday.

The ministry proposed that the two sides meet at the truce village of Panmunjeom.

In a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day President Park Geun-hye instructed the ministry to propose talks with the North about bringing South Korean items out of the suspended factory complex.

Established in 2004 as a rare symbol of inter-Korean cooperation, Gaeseong was the most high-profile casualty of two months of elevated tensions that followed the North’s nuclear test in February.

Pyongyang barred South Korean access to the zone and pulled out its 53,000 workers early last month. Seoul withdrew the last of its nationals 10 days ago.

When they pulled out, company officials loaded down cars with packages of products, but were still forced to leave large stocks of goods behind.

“I want the Unification Ministry to propose talks with North Korea so that the firms can reduce losses by taking out finished products and raw materials, left behind at Gaeseong, at an early date,” Park told the meeting, according to a pool report.

The last group of South Koreans left the zone on May 3 after the South sent $13 million in cash to cover unpaid wages and taxes.

The South Korean government has agreed to provide 300 billion won ($270 million) in emergency compensation to investors from the 120 South Korean firms in Gaeseong who were forced to shut down operations.

Estimates of their total losses range from 1.0 trillion to 3.0 trillion won.

Later in the day, the government said that it will provide more funds to companies that have been hit by the suspension.

The Ministry of Unification said the government will provide the companies with a total of 300 billion won ($270.6 million) in insurance coverage, which will come from the inter-Korean economic cooperation fund.

Each company will be entitled to receive a maximum of 7 billion won, or up to 90 percent of net assets lost.

The ministry also said efforts will be made to make full use of the 520 billion won provided by an extra budget that was recently passed by the National Assembly, to complement the low interest loans Seoul already pledged to companies.

The ministry said it plans to provide employment and unemployment policy support for people who worked for companies that have factories at the Gaeseong complex, and give waivers on various social security insurance that businesses need to pay, but cannot do so for lack of earnings.

In the case where business owners are unable to pay salaries, the government will provide 3-4 percent interest loans totaling 50 million won per company, and another 2.5 billion won to make it possible for workers to receive training so they can find new jobs if the standoff in Gaeseong shows no signs of making headway.

“All these measures will help companies that have been forced to halt operations,” an official said, stressing that the latest support has the full backing of the government.

(From news reports)