Operating licenses for Inchon / Nampo being returned

Companies that received licenses to operate between Inchon and Nampo have been giving their licenses back one after another.

According to Inchon Regional Maritime Affairs and Fisheries on May 10, since February ten companies have secured cargo operation licenses for trade between Inchon and Nampo. However, four companies followed up by returning their licenses. The reason for this being that these four companies failed to submit written contracts to the North Korean Ministry of Unification, leading to failure in acquiring permission to transport cargoes. The Ministry of Unification requires copies of the contract to permit transport. Especially, amongst the remaining six companies, four additional companies were rejected permission from North Korea for the same reason, making it likely that more licenses will be given back, with the notable exceptions of Green logistics and Kookyang shipping.

An official at one of the companies that gave its license back said, "We became involved in this business based on inter-Korean reconciliation. However, the business company was much more than the cargoes. So we decided to step back from this business for a while."

An official at Inchon Regional Maritime Affairs and Fisheries said, "The company will be decreased because of the revised notice on May 26. This notice allows the company registered on coastal transportation over 1 years business to get a permission to be in Inter-Korea trade business."