South Korea has named a former senior official on North Korean affairs as new head of a committee overseeing a joint factory park in North Korea.

Hong Yang-ho, former vice minister of Seoul’s Unification Ministry from 2008-2010, will lead the Gaeseong Industrial District Management Committee for three years, the ministry said. Officials said Hong may serve consecutive terms. 

The Unification Ministry specializes in dealings with Pyongyang.

The joint committee, composed of some 50 South Korean civilians and eight North Korean officials, manages affairs related to the inter-Korean industrial complex located in the southwestern North Korean border city of Gaeseong.

As the last remaining symbol of reconciliation between the two Koreas, who are technically still at war, the industrial complex has some 120 South Korean firms operating with more than 47,000 North Korean laborers.

Hong, 56, was appointed as chairman of the committee based on his “vast knowledge and experience” regarding negotiation and trade affairs with North Korea, the Unification Ministry said.

By Shin Hae-in (hayney@heraldcorp.com)