N Korea lays out conditions for reviving Kaesong complex
6 May 2013 2:25 PM IST
North Korea demanded on Sunday that South Korea drop all ‘military provocations’ if it wants to revive a jointly-run business estate which has suspended operations amid high military tensions on the peninsula.
The Kaesong Industrial Complex, opened just north of the tense border in 2004 as a rare symbol of cooperation, has fallen victim to the escalating stand-off.
Pyongyang, accusing Seoul of sparking the military tension, banned entry to the estate by South Koreans and pulled out all its 53,000 workers early last month, rejecting repeated calls by the South for talks.
Seoul last week withdrew all its nationals from Kaesong. A final group of seven returned on Friday night after the South had sent cars loaded with $13 million in cash to the estate to cover unpaid wages and taxes.
The North’s National Defence Commission, its most powerful body, on Sunday again blamed the South for the suspension.
If the South was truly worried about Kaesong’s future, it ‘should take measures of stopping all the hostile acts and military provocations, the source of the prevailing situation’, said a spokesman for the commission, which is chaired by leader Kim Jong-Un.
It also cited the South’s preparations for an annual military drill with its US ally.
The Kaesong Industrial Complex, opened just north of the tense border in 2004 as a rare symbol of cooperation, has fallen victim to the escalating stand-off.
Pyongyang, accusing Seoul of sparking the military tension, banned entry to the estate by South Koreans and pulled out all its 53,000 workers early last month, rejecting repeated calls by the South for talks.
Seoul last week withdrew all its nationals from Kaesong. A final group of seven returned on Friday night after the South had sent cars loaded with $13 million in cash to the estate to cover unpaid wages and taxes.
The North’s National Defence Commission, its most powerful body, on Sunday again blamed the South for the suspension.
If the South was truly worried about Kaesong’s future, it ‘should take measures of stopping all the hostile acts and military provocations, the source of the prevailing situation’, said a spokesman for the commission, which is chaired by leader Kim Jong-Un.
It also cited the South’s preparations for an annual military drill with its US ally.
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