Former Rep. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) has registered as a first-time foreign agent. He's representing a South Korean business alliance that hopes to restart factory work in North Korea.
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman signed the Corporate Association of the Gaesong Industrial Complex in July and added Clay to the contract yesterday, according to a new Justice Department filing. The firm is working "at the direction of" South Korean consulting group HC & Sons, per the filing.
CAGIC is made up of South Korean businesses that used to run factories in North Korea's Gaesong Industrial Complex, near the Demilitarized Zone, as part of a partnership between the two countries. South Korea suspended the partnership in 2016 in response to a North Korean rocket launch and nuclear test. The manufacturing facilities reportedly employed more than 50,000 North Koreans.
Clay's assistance on the project "may include communications with [the executive and legislative branches] and media." Another former representative, Greg Laughlin (D-Texas), was added to the contract in December.
