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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Norks Trying Hard to Keep Kaesong Complex Open |
| 2010-06-01 |
| The North Korean agency supervising the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex seems determined to maintain the industrial park although tensions on the peninsula are running high. The General Bureau for Central Guidance to the Development of the Special Zone was quoted by the Unification Ministry on Monday as saying it will "continue efforts to build the Kaesong complex" and is banning South Korean firms from removing registered equipment. According to the ministry, an official with the bureau on Sunday told a staffer of South Korea's Kaesong Industrial Complex Management Committee about this. The agency set tough conditions for the removal of equipment, saying it can be moved only after a review by the tax office in the industrial park. All debts including wages must be paid off, rental equipment can be removed after relevant documents are verified, and no North Korean workers can be laid off temporarily due to the removal of equipment. The bureau said it is Seoul that by curtailing South Korean staff at the Kaesong Complex last week is preparing to close it and should take the responsibility if it shuts. A South Korean security official speculated that the bureau, which is responsible for the livelihood of about 43,000 North Korean workers at the industrial park, is trying to maintain the industrial park by making it difficult to remove equipment. But he added it is difficult to predict what fate awaits the industrial park "because leaders in Pyongyang and North Korean military brass may think differently." |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #4 Kaesong was a genuine effort to help the North by the South. The South will now walk away from it. Hopefully they will get all their people out first. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2010-06-01 10:40 |
| #3 It's too late. They were potential hostages from when they entered NK, and now they are on the table. |
| Posted by: Grunter 2010-06-01 08:13 |
| #2 Damage all the equipment, then walk away. Leave the North Koreans nothing they can use. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-06-01 07:16 |
| #1 Screw it. Walk away. It's truly not worth the trouble. |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-06-01 02:14 |