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A South Korean man walks past a Kaesong Industrial District Foundation logo, at their office in Seoul on Thursday./AP
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North Korea on Thursday expelled all 11 South Korean government officials from the Inter-Korean Exchanges and Cooperation Consultation Office in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, just north of the truce village of Panmunjom. It was the first physical action North Korea took since the Lee Myung-bak administration took office.
Presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said, "North Korea's abrupt act is very regrettable and may pose an obstacle to sustained implementation of inter-Korean economic cooperation. We've decided to deal with this incident based on firm principle." At the moment, the joint industrial park is still operating normally.
According to the Unification Ministry, the North verbally asked the South Korean government officials around 10 a.m. on Monday to leave within three days. The immediate trigger was a statement from Unification Minister Kim Ha-joong, who said on March 19 it would be ¡°difficult¡± to expand the complex without progress in the denuclearization process. North Korea is now a full three months behind a deadline to declare its nuclear weapons and stockpiles under a six-nation agreement.
The South Korean government demanded a written notice on the reasons for the expulsion of the officials, but the North refused and merely repeated its previous call for their departure. All 11 left the complex around 1 a.m. on Thursday, the Unification Ministry said. No physical force was used.
Five South Korean civilians remain at the Kaesong office -- two facilities maintenance managers, and a representative each from the Export-Import Bank of Korea, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, and the Small Business Corporation.
Kim Ho-nyeon, spokesman for the Unification Ministry, expressed ¡°deep concern over the North's unilateral demand. All responsibility resulting from the measure lie with the North Korean side. We urge the North to normalize the Inter-Korean Exchanges and Cooperation Consultation Office as soon as possible."
Pyongyang pulled its own government officials out of Kaesong when Seoul suspended shipments of rice and fertilizer after the North test-fired missiles in July 2006. But it had not expelled South Korean officials from the complex before.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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