This picture taken on February 12, 2017 shows barricades set on the road leading to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's Kaesong joint industrial complex at a Republic of Korea military checkpoint in the border city of Paju near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas. (JUNG YEON-JE / AFP)

SEOUL - The Republic of Korea (ROK)'s top policymaker in charge of affairs on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said Friday that the country would mull the resumption of the inter-Korean factory park if dialogue atmosphere ripens. 

Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said at a forum in Seoul that if there is any change in the sanctions toward the DPRK, the resumption of the Kaesong Industrial Complex would be on the top of the list to resolve. 

Cho, however, noted that addressing the issue now is actually difficult to start under the current situations, according to Yonhap news agency report. 

The jointly-run inter-Korean factory park in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong was closed down under the previous government following Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test in January last year. The fifth nuclear detonation occurred in September of the year. 

Meanwhile, Cho said in an appearance at local broadcaster YTN that the DPRK should stop nuclear tests and missile launches to enter into the stage of negotiations, citing it as a condition for the resumption of the Kaesong factory park. 

He vowed to make phased efforts to resume the Kaesong industrial complex. 

ROK President Moon Jae-in was widely estimated to inherit the so-called Sunshine Policy with the DPRK through economic cooperation and the exchanges of sports, culture and personnel. 

Moon emphasized the New Economic Roadmap on the Korean Peninsula, his own version of the Sunshine Policy, to enhance inter-Korean relations and build peace on the peninsula. The version is often called 'Moonshine Policy'.