After President Park Geun-hye's decision to suspend operations at the inter-Korean factory park with North Korea, there are three crucial steps her administration should undertake. It should be the first priority of the government to respond sincerely to the anger and dismay shared by the South Koreans who had operated businesses in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex. Seoul estimates the shutdown will incur more than 1 trillion won ($835 million) in losses.

The concern the South Korean supervisors feel over their livelihoods is understandable. The owners of about 120 South Korean firms, mostly in their 40s and 50s, were forced hastily to move out of the factory town without enough time to pack up their finished goods. Many of them believe that the industrial zone has virtually no chance of reopening soon, at least during the Park presidency.

With the shutdown, they face the risk of breaking contracts with thousands of buyers and suppliers. The head of the association representing the Korean businessmen at the Gaeseong joint complex said it may consider legal action against the government for the financial damage its decision has incurred. They say the government has violated an inter-Korean agreement made in 2013 to continue operations regardless of the political climate.

The government needs to do its utmost to provide compensation that will be satisfactory to the owners. It must provide aid packages that will prevent the factory owners from going bankrupt and facilitate their search for an alternative site to continue their businesses or support job training.

Second, the nation needs to be on full alert for additional retaliatory measures and possible military provocations from Pyongyang. North Korea has blatantly denied its responsibility in the closure and instead has mounted verbal attacks on President Park, castigating her for "driving the Korean Peninsula to the brink of war." Pyongyang has already hit back harshly at the closure by freezing assets and equipment left behind, expelling all South Koreans and returning the industrial zone to the control of the military.

It also cut two key communication hotlines with Seoul, preventing any further official discussion of the situation at the complex. With the increased cross-border tensions, Cheong Wa Dae and the intelligence and military authorities need to be fully prepared to deal with more reckless activities from Pyongyang. It is highly possible that the North may conduct additional provocations before the annual Korea-U.S. military drill and the U.S. Security Council sanctions for its nuclear test last month.

Third, the government needs to seek the people's understanding on the inevitability of Park's decision. Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo gave an explanation last week, but it would be more effective if the President spoke to the people about the closure and solicit their support. Supporters of the project argue that the President has made a rash decision to abandon the most significant joint economic venture between the two Koreas. But the last thing the country needs now is for the shutdown to turn into an internal conflict.

The decision has already been made, and any further social and political wrangling about the closure is futile at this point. This is the time for the nation to back our President's decision from a longer perspective.

It is the duty of the government to convince the people that the shutdown reflects the President's resolve to ensure that Pyongyang no longer takes advantage of our economic cooperation, carried out under goodwill, for its pursuit of a missile and nuclear buildup. Only when Pyongyang regains its senses should Seoul resume joint economic projects for win-win outcomes. In this context, it was a sensible move for Seoul also to suspend other joint projects involving the North, such as the Rajin-Khasan program for a logistics project among the two Koreas and Russia.

jhdo@ktimes.com,