South Korea on Thursday began removing its citizens from a jointly run industrial park on the border with North Korea, a news report said.
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On Sunday, the North launched a long-range rocket carrying a satellite, which Seoul and Washington view as a cover for a banned test of intercontinental ballistic technology. If anything, it’s likely to worsen tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
“There were more soldiers around the complex than usual”, she said.
The news comes after a U.S. intelligence chief warned North Korea could be just weeks away from stockpiling nuclear weapons.
North Korea’s growing military capability has alarmed some national defense analysts, who are concerned about a future EMP attack, or electromagentic pulse, on the U.S. North Korea is known to be working with Iran on such technology and warnings about that capability date back to at least 2012. The owners of the South Korean companies in Kaesong had sent more than 100 empty trucks into the North yesterday morning in the hope of bringing out as much as they could. This is a far-fetched argument. South Korean officials have stated their Communist neighbor has benefited from the complex to the tune of $515 million.
South Korea’s sudden withdrawal from a factory park in North Korea is a severe blow for the South Korean businesses that populated it, but is unlikely to make much difference to the North’s decrepit economy despite being a stern diplomatic measure.
What is the Kaesong complex? Furthermore, considering that this was nearly the last measure that Seoul could take on its own, this is bound to limit Seoul’s options. Supporters of the project said that kind of contact was important in promoting inter-Korean understanding, despite concerns that Pyongyang might have used proceeds from Kaesong to help fund its nuclear and missile programmes.
Many countries believed the launch was a front for a long-range missile test, while North Korea maintains the launch was for scientific and “peaceful purposes”.
A South Korean driver changes his vehicle number after returning from North Korea’s joint Kaesong Industrial Complex at the customs, immigration and quarantine office near the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016. That’s why worldwide cooperation is so important.
A group of people braved the rain for hours on the southern side of a cross-border bridge on Thursday anxiously waiting for their family members and co-workers to return to South Korea.
And The Associated Press quoted an unnamed South Korean official as saying that Ri’s execution was part of Kim’s effort to bolster his grip on power. Nevertheless, South Korean military officials said they are staying alert for any unexpected provocation, especially at night. This was aimed at putting pressure on Beijing, which has been reluctant to impose tough sanctions on North Korea.
The protests in South Korea’s capital, Seoul, also led to flags of North Korea being ripped at the rally.
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The move prompted an angry response Thursday from North Korea. Even assuming for the moment that the collapse of the North Korea regime is an appropriate goal, this attempt is the result of wishful thinking. The only exception was in 2013 during a period of heightened cross-border tensions when Pyongyang effectively shut down the zone for five months by withdrawing its 53,000 workers.
