The complex, located some 50 kilometers northwest of Seoul, had served as a major revenue source for the cash-strapped North since opening in 2004. More than 54,000 North Korean workers produced labor-intensive goods such as clothes and utensils. Seoul shut down the factory zone in 2016 in response to Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test and long-range rocket launch.

The list of people at Friday’s luncheon included Park Yong-maan, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Sohn Kyung-shik, head of the Korea Employers Federation; and Kim Young-ju, chief of the Korea International Trade Association.

When asked about adjustments to the 52-hour workweek system, Moon said that the government was considering fixing problems raised by small and medium-sized enterprises.

Businesses, particularly smaller ones, have been saying that the shorter workweek system imposes significant financial burdens on them, at a time when they are already struggling with a slowing economy.

The meeting came amid growing concerns about deflation.

South Korea’s consumer prices fell 0.4 percent in September from a year earlier, marking the first on-year drop in headline inflation since the government began compiling related data in 1965.

South Korea’s exports fell 11.7 percent on-year in September, hit by weak chip prices and worsening trade dispute between the United States and China.

Asia’s fourth-largest economy has been also facing trade row with Japan over the neighboring country’s restrictions on exports of key materials for chip fabrications since July.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)