Last SKoreans leave factory park in NK
Source: Agencies |
May 4, 2013, Saturday
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Print Edition
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THE last South Koreans stationed at a jointly run factory park in North Korea pulled out yesterday, dealing a major blow to the rivals' only remaining symbol of rapprochement and rendering them with virtually no official communication channel.
The departure of seven South Koreans who had been negotiating taxes and the back salaries of North Korean workers marks the first time that the industrial complex, near the heavily fortified border in the town of Kaesong, has been vacant since being launched in 2004.
It could spell the end of an experiment that many saw as a bridge between the divided Koreas. Through both liberal and conservative governments in Seoul, Kaesong survived past tensions, including attacks blamed on North Korea in 2010 that killed 50 South Koreans.
Two vehicles carrying US$13 million to cover wages for the North Korean workers and taxes crossed the border at the time the seven South Koreans returned, according to Seoul's Unification Ministry.
As tensions between the countries soared early last month, North Korea suspended operations at Kaesong, barring South Korean factory managers and trucks carrying supplies from entering the park and withdrawing the more than 53,000 North Koreans working at 123 South Korean companies in Kaesong.
The South Korean businessmen who built factories in the special economic zone expressed pride that their work could serve as a stepping stone to an eventual unified Korea.
The departure of seven South Koreans who had been negotiating taxes and the back salaries of North Korean workers marks the first time that the industrial complex, near the heavily fortified border in the town of Kaesong, has been vacant since being launched in 2004.
It could spell the end of an experiment that many saw as a bridge between the divided Koreas. Through both liberal and conservative governments in Seoul, Kaesong survived past tensions, including attacks blamed on North Korea in 2010 that killed 50 South Koreans.
Two vehicles carrying US$13 million to cover wages for the North Korean workers and taxes crossed the border at the time the seven South Koreans returned, according to Seoul's Unification Ministry.
As tensions between the countries soared early last month, North Korea suspended operations at Kaesong, barring South Korean factory managers and trucks carrying supplies from entering the park and withdrawing the more than 53,000 North Koreans working at 123 South Korean companies in Kaesong.
The South Korean businessmen who built factories in the special economic zone expressed pride that their work could serve as a stepping stone to an eventual unified Korea.
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