Seoul and Pyongyang are discussing the possibility of a visit to North Korea by former owners of businesses at the now-shuttered Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), the South Korean Ministry of Unification (MOU) announced on Wednesday.

The businesspeople have not been allowed to visit their factories since the suspension of operations at the inter-Korean industrial park in February 2016 in the wake of North Korea’s fourth nuclear test and launch of the Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite.

“The government has been in consultation with North Korea over the visit by business people who invested in the Kaesong Industrial Complex,” ministry spokesperson Baik Tae-hyun told