Two Koreas to hold fresh talks on joint industrial site
11 July 2013 11:15 PM GMT
Seoul and Pyongyang were to start fresh talks on reopening a joint industrial complex Wednesday as a group of South Korean factory owners visit the mothballed site.
The sensitive talks follow a rare weekend meeting in which the two sides agreed in principle to reopen the Kaesong industrial complex, which shut down three months ago as relations between the neighbours hit crisis point.
Pyongyang, citing military tensions and the South’s hostility toward the North, in April withdrew its 53,000 workers from the 123 Seoul-owned factories at the complex, which is seen as the last remaining symbol of cross-border reconciliation.
The South withdrew managers from most of the operations in early May.
The latest round of talks, which were expected to begin later Wednesday, follow months of friction and threats of war by Pyongyang after its February nuclear test attracted tougher UN sanctions, further squeezing its struggling economy.
High on the agenda will be a demand from Seoul that Pyongyang guarantees it will never again unilaterally shut down the South Korean-funded site, a key source of hard currency for the impoverished North.
The sensitive talks follow a rare weekend meeting in which the two sides agreed in principle to reopen the Kaesong industrial complex, which shut down three months ago as relations between the neighbours hit crisis point.
Pyongyang, citing military tensions and the South’s hostility toward the North, in April withdrew its 53,000 workers from the 123 Seoul-owned factories at the complex, which is seen as the last remaining symbol of cross-border reconciliation.
The South withdrew managers from most of the operations in early May.
The latest round of talks, which were expected to begin later Wednesday, follow months of friction and threats of war by Pyongyang after its February nuclear test attracted tougher UN sanctions, further squeezing its struggling economy.
High on the agenda will be a demand from Seoul that Pyongyang guarantees it will never again unilaterally shut down the South Korean-funded site, a key source of hard currency for the impoverished North.
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