South Korea has called on the North to open a joint industrial complex that was shut down by Pyongyang in the latest escalation of tensions between the two countries.
Hundreds of workers from the South are stuck at the joint industrial complex just over the border after the North banned South Koreans to the site on Wednesday, officials said.
“North Korea’s measure to ban South Koreans from entering Kaesong industrial zone is causing a serious trouble in Kaesong’s operation,” Kim Hyung-suk, South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman, said.
“To expedite the investment on North Korea which the North itself hopes for, there has to be a mutual trust between South Korea, North Korea and the international society.”
Wednesday’s move sparked fears the North could carry out its threatened shutdown of the complex as part of a standoff with Washington and Seoul.
‘Military action’
The operating stability of the complex is seen as a bellwether of inter-Korean relations, and its closure would mark a clear escalation of tensions beyond all the military rhetoric.
A shut down of the plant, said our correspondent, would mean “a real deterioration in relations between the two countries.”
South Korea’s defence ministry said it had contingency plans, including possible military action, to ensure the safety of its citizens working in the joint industrial zone.
“We have prepared a contingency plan, including possible military action, in case of a serious situation,” Defence Minister Kim Kwan-Jin told ruling party MPs in a meeting.
“The North this morning notified us that it will only allow returning trips from Kaesong and will ban trips to the complex,” Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-suk told reporters.
Kim said the North had not specified how long the ban would remain in effect.
International concerns
The ministry said 861 South Korean workers are in the industrial complex while 179 workers await entry.
Border crossings for Kaesong, which lies 10km inside North Korea, have been functioning normally despite soaring tensions in recent weeks between the North and the South.
Responding the latest developments, a Chinese official met ambassadors from the United States and both Koreas to
express “serious concern” about the situation on the Korean peninsula, China’s Foreign Ministry said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday it would defend itself and its “treaty ally”, South Korea, amid increasingly bellicose threats from the North.
The latest move comes after North Korea said on Tuesday it would revive a mothballed nuclear reactor able to produce bomb-grade plutonium in a standoff that has seen Washington shift military resources into South Korea.
Pyongyang has been ramping up its threats since it was hit by international sanctions following its third nuclear test earlier this year.