For the first time since April, the Kaesong Industrial Park will reopen on Monday, September 16th after ab agrement reached Wednesday.

The agreement to reopen the industrial complex was the culmination of month’s of talks between Pyongyang and Seoul. North Korea finally agreed to meet Seoul’s demands. The North and South will jointly manage the industrial facility and also, for the first time, allow foreign investors.

The two Koreas agreed in August to reopen the park but there still were details that yet needed to be hammered out, chief among them a joint committee where issues that are related to the complex must be discussed. This joint committee may solve issues like the one that shut down the park in April.

Also, for the first time, foreign companies will be invited to take part in the complex. The two countries will hold an event in October to woo foreign countries to take part in joint industry between North and South Korea. It is hoped that through foreign investment, the countries can avoid an incident like this spring that closed down the complex and that the park can evolve on the lines of the Suxhou Industrial Park in China. That park is a highly successful venture between Singapore and China and is considered one of the top industrial zones for foreign investment in China.

The companies that took part in the complex at the time of its closure this spring will be exempt from taxes this year in the ageement between the Koreas. Also pending is the compensation that should be given to the 55,000 workers from the north that lost wages because of the closure.