Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel said Seoul’s move was a “compelling indicator of the seriousness with which they regard the provocative steps” taken by North Korea.
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Dozens of South Korean trucks were already returning across the border earlier in the day, laden with goods and equipment, after the South said it was pulling out.
(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon). A South Korea Army soldier stands guard at the customs, immigration and quarantine office near the border village of Panmunjom, in Paju, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016.
Cotton Club, an underwear maker, said three of its employees were in the complex and were unsure of their whereabouts.
Further unraveling a project that’s been a sign of cooperation, North Korea is ordering all South Koreans from a jointly run industrial complex, after South Korea announced it would suspend work there in retaliation for Pyongyang’s recent missile launch and nuclear test.
Kaesong, a symbol of the “sunshine” reconciliation policy of the late 1990s, opened in 2004 and survived repeated crises.
“South Korean enemy forces will experience themselves the harsh and painful price they should pay for halting the Kaesong industrial complex”, the CPRK said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.
The latest bill passed unanimously with 96 lawmakers reportedly voting in favor of the bill to blacklist those helping North Korea in its nuclear and missile programs, human rights abuses, cyberattacks and other crimes, and freeze funds that could help the reclusive country build an atomic arsenal.
Seoul’s decision, considered its strongest non-military measure, aims at cutting off the North Korean source of hard currency.
The Senate bill seeks to block any financial support North Korea might receive to build weapons of mass destruction such as miniaturized nuclear warheads and long-range missiles.
South Korean employees have begun leaving the Kaesong Industrial complex. But, generally, the complex has always been seen as above the constant squabbling and occasional bloodshed between the rival Koreas, one of the last bright spots in a relationship more often marked by threats of war.
The question among some is, Why now? On Jan. 6, the DPRK tested what it claimed was its first H-bomb, the fourth of its nuclear detonations.
China uses North Korea to influence the democratic government of South Korea and to pressure Japan, Fisher said.
In 2010, Seoul imposed unilateral sanctions on Pyongyang, including the suspension of trade between the two Koreas, after North Korea allegedly sank a South Korean military patrol boat.
The unilateral sanctions imposed by the US and South Korea, as well as Japan, came with UN Security Council members still stalled on how far to go in punishing the North for its latest nuclear test and long-range rocket launch.
Jang’s remarks reflected a general sense of outrage among Kaesong’s South Korean business community over the shutdown order.
In a statement issued Wednesday, South Korean Unification Minister Hong Yong Pyo explained the reasoning behind the decision to take bolder action.
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South Korea’s government said it would find ways to compensate the businesses affected by its decision.
