An ambitious ten-year-long Korean experiment, the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), has now been frustrated by the increased level of inter-Korean conflict attributed to Pyongyang’s rocket launches in April and December 2012 and third nuclear test in February 2013. On April 3, North Korea suddenly blocked the entrance to the KIC while leaving open the exit. On April 8, 2013, shortly after a visit by Kim Yang Geon, the Worker’s Party Secretary for South Korea Operation, the KIC was announced temporarily halted. On April 26, seeing its citizens practically sieged in the KIC and hearing no response from the North, the South decided to evacuate the KIC and most of its citizens left the next day. On May 3, after settling accounts for wages and taxes owed to the North, the KIC finally fell into an abyss of silence. By combining North Korean labor with South Korean capital, the KIC seems to have promoted inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation. However, the KIC’s stability has been threatened by many constraints such as political turmoils at both the intranational and international levels as well as its own institutional underdevelopment. Despite its apparent influence over North Korean workers and markets, the impact of the KIC is evaluated to have been limited in inducing North Korean economic reform and openness. From a security perspective, the KIC was a source of concern that could limit South Korea's military options by raising the possibility of South Korean workers in the KIC being held hostage. On the other hand, however, the closure of the KIC costs a lot in terms of lost business opportunities and property, diminished chances of diplomatic engagement with the North, and betrayed hopes for peace. The only gain from the closure of the KIC is the lesson that the broken machine of cooperation should not be fed with oil but must be thoroughly replaced with a new engine.