The future of Seoul-Pyongyang ties looked increasingly bleak Friday, as South Korean officials were left to guess what will become of a shared industrial facility situated just inside North Korea – with 124 businesses from the South facing heavy losses after being abruptly kicked out of the reclusive state.
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He added that the decision to suspend work at more than 120 factories was hard for South Korean President Park Geun-hye.
South Korean owners who run factories in the suspended inter-Korean…
North Korea’s main exports to China include coal, minerals, clothing, textiles and foodstuffs, while its imports from China include petroleum, steel, machinery, cars and electronics, according to South Korea’s government-funded Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency.
South Korean government analysts say the area around the Kaesong factory park was one of the few places outside of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, that enjoyed a stable power and water supply, largely because of the infrastructure built by Seoul.
“I feel sorry for the North Koreans, because they are way more anxious than we are”, said another worker of the complex, Kim Soo-Hee, a nurse. It was originally part of a “sunshine” policy to let the light shine on North Korea so that it would open up, says Strother. It’s located in North Korea and employs a largely North Korean workforce.
The North announced on the same day under the name of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, “The successful launch of the Kwangmyongsong-4 [Bright Star-4] satellite was a self-defensive measure to guarantee peace and regional security”.
For the North, the revenue opportunity from Kaesong – US$110 million (S$153 million) in wages and fees last year – was deemed worth the risk of exposing its workers to influences from the prosperous South. In recent years, North Koreans have had increasing access to contraband media, exposing them to life in the South and China. This year’s exercises will be the largest ever, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said.
Still, Pyongyang took precautions to ensure the workers it hand- picked for the complex had minimal contact with their South Korean managers that could be potentially subversive.
The communication hotline between South Korea’s second fleet command and North Korea’s west fleet command had already been closed off long ago, Moon said.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have risen since North Korea carried out a nuclear test last month, followed by the long-range rocket launch on Sunday that came after Seoul had warned of serious consequences.
Kim Nam-sik, who heads South Korea’s management body for the Kaesong park, told reporters at the bridge that the homecoming process was complete at 11:05 p.m., more than five hours after the North’s deadline.
It is also naive to think Beijing would be so impressed by Seoul’s move as to take similar action.
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The footage on North Korean state TV also showed the lift-off of the Kwangmyongsong rocket from a newly expanded launch tower and what appeared to be the first-stage booster separating from the rocket as it flew into space, seen from an onboard camera.
