NKorea blocks access to key industrial zone

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

SEOUL: North Korea blocked access to a key joint industrial zone with South Korea today — a sharp escalation in a military crisis that Washington blamed on Pyongyang’s “reckless” behaviour.

North Korea informed Seoul in the morning that it was stopping the daily movement of South Koreans into the Seoul-funded Kaesong

complex — 10 kilometres inside the North side of the border.

However, it added that the 861 South Koreans currently in the zone were at liberty to leave. Any move on Kaesong — established in 2004 and a crucial source of hard currency for North Korea — carries enormous significance.

Neither of the Koreas has allowed previous crises to significantly affect the complex, which is the only surviving example of inter-Korean cooperation and seen as a bellwether for stability on the Korean peninsula.

South Korea’s defence ministry said it had contingency plans that included “military action” in case the safety of its citizens working there was threatened.

The latest North Korean move fitted into a cycle of escalating tensions that has seen Pyongyang threaten missile and nuclear strikes against the United States and its ally South Korea in response to UN sanctions and joint military drills.

China, the North’s sole major ally, appealed for “calm” from all sides today, repeating Beijing’s oft-declared position.

“Under the current circumstances China believes that all parties should exercise calm and restraint,” foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov said he was “worried” by the situation, saying even a simple human error could cause the crisis to spiral out of control.

Describing the Kaesong ban as “very regrettable”, South Korea’s Unification Ministry urged the North to normalise access “immediately”.

“Otherwise ... not only will inter-Korean relations be negatively affected but North Korea will invoke greater criticism and isolation from the international community,” the ministry said in a statement.

It added that 33 South Koreans had returned from Kaesong, with hundreds staying on to keep their companies running smoothly. Many routinely stay for periods of several days.

Around 53,000 North Koreans work at 120 South Korean plants at the complex, which was still operating normally today.

Lee Jae-Young, manager at a watchmaking plant in Kaesong, was among those prevented from crossing into the North.

“I feel anxious about my colleagues there. This is an emergency situation and it doesn’t look good,” Lee said.

“This could also be serious trouble for our business which requires the constant shipping of raw materials to Kaesong for manufacturing,” she added.

But Kim Dong-Kyu, a South Korean manager still in Kaesong, was more relaxed. “The atmosphere here is like, business as usual. It doesn’t appear that the complex will be closed as far as I can tell,” Kim said.

Cho Han-Bum, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said Pyongyang was unlikely to risk a complete shutdown of Kaesong.