A sanctions exemption for the GIC would be a step towards encouraging North Korea to develop its economy and denuclearize, and thereby to become a member of the international community

The GIC is a place for North Korea to learn capitalism, and a starting point for acceptance of a market economy

In order to collect taxes from tenant businesses, an accounting system, the quintessence of capitalist practice, has been introduced, and the businesses' right to private property has been acknowledged*

* North Korea has granted 50-year land use rights to Hyundai Asan for the site of the GIC

* The buildings that house tenant businesses are not North Korea's property but that of the businesses

GIC workers play the role of "free-market evangelists" in North Korea

The North Korean workers have attained to a level where they themselves call for results-oriented incentives

54,000 GIC workers have already experienced capitalism and a market economy;* as it expands into a second and third Gaeseong complex, the ripple effect will grow

* Proceeding from the assumption that each worker belongs to a 4-member family, one can assume that 210,000 North Koreans have benefited from the experience

The GIC's management system reflects the liberalization of North Korea's policies toward the outside world, which are aimed at attracting foreign currency

When North Korea revised the law governing the Najin-Sonbong Special Economic Zone (2010), it took into account the system in place at the GIC, which has also exerted an influence on the organization of 27 special economic zones (development zones)

The relocation of U.S. companies struggling to enter China to the Gaeseong Industrial Complex will help restore their competitiveness.

North Korea's high-quality labor force and abundant resources such as rare earth* may be utilized.

* Rare earth buried in North Korea are 20 million tons (as of 2015 sourced by Korea Mineral Resources Corporation)

U.S. companies can increase price competitiveness when entering South Korea, Japan and China markets.

The relocation of U.S. companies struggling to enter China to the Gaeseong Industrial Complex will help restore their competitiveness.

North Korea's dependence on China intensifies due to prolonged sanctions against the North.

When North Korea opens its doors to the outside world, it reduces its dependence on China by increasing international investment.

* North Korea's dependence on China: 59.6%('15) → 95.2%('19) (Korea International Trade Association's North Korea Trade Statistics)

* Immediately after the suspension of the GIC (2016), North Korea’s dependence on China soared by about 25% (84.3%), and the proportion has gradually increased since then.

Agreement with the need for strong sanctions in response to nuclear tests and other North Korean provocations that pose a threat to peace

But inasmuch as Chairman Kim Jong Un has repeatedly expressed his intention to carry out denuclearization, there exists a show of receptiveness on the part of the international community is called for.

In addition, there is no problem in strategic items management, as the machinery and raw materials are brought into North Korea under the South Korean government's permission to check if they are strategic items.

Exempting the GIC from sanctions is necessary in order to lead North Korea into the international community without relaxing the sanctions regime as a whole.

South Korean citizens are of the same opinion;* should North Korea engage in nuclear tests or other provocations after provision of this incentive, it would be necessary to resort to a "snap-back"**

* “62.4% of citizens : ‘Resumption of Mt Kumgang Tourism, GIC will aid in denuclearization of North." (National Unification Advisory Council, March 2019)

** Snap-back : Return to previous sanctions if given cause