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Some 573 South Koreans have become virtual prisoners at the inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North. In a statement on Monday, the North Korean Army's General Staff said it will cut off the inter-Korean military communications line during the period of the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises that started Monday and end on March 20.
Under the Armistice Agreement, military authorities in both Koreas must exchange and approve lists of visitors to each side, but with the military communications channel cut off, the Kaesong industrial park has become an island it is impossible for South Korean people to enter or leave. That means some 726 South Koreans and 373 vehicles that were to enter the industrial park and 242 South Korean people and 163 vehicles that were to leave it were stranded on Monday.
The Unification Ministry said as of 8 a.m. Monday, a total of 621 South Koreans including 573 in the industrial park are currently in North Korea. It was not confirmed whether South Koreans elsewhere in North Korea are also stranded.
In case of any accidental clash on the ground or at sea, which have occurred before, it would be more difficult to resolve the situation swiftly now the military communications line cut off.
For the time being, 700 KT communications lines linking Seoul with Kaesong are operating normally, Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun said. "Through the Kaesong Industrial Complex management committee, we're strongly urging the North to permit South Korean officials stationed in the Kaesong industrial park to return to the South as scheduled."
Meanwhile, the ministry advised some 10 civic groups, which had planned to send members to the North for visits to refrain from doing so.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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