North Korea blocks South workers from Kaesong industrial zone
The Kaesong industrial zone is a symbol of inter-Korean co-operation
North
Korea is blocking the entry of South Korean workers into a joint
industrial zone, in a move seen as further escalating tensions.
Workers were being allowed to leave the Kaesong complex but
not cross into it from the South, Seoul's Unification Ministry
confirmed. The Kaesong zone, which is a money-maker for the North, is seen as a key barometer of inter-Korean relations.
The move came as the US called North Korea's recent rhetoric unacceptable.
The joint industrial park is home to more than 100 factories. More than 50,000 North Koreans work there, as well as several hundred South Korean managers who request permission on a daily basis to cross into the zone.
"South Korea's government deeply regrets the entry ban and urges it be lifted immediately," Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-seok told reporters.
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Every attempt by the US and the international community to hold Pyongyang accountable, with sanctions for example, leads to even more erratic behaviour by the North Koreans”
"Ensuring the safety of our
citizens is our top priority and the South Korean government will take
necessary measures based on this principle," he said.
The entry ban is not unprecedented - South Koreans were
briefly denied access in March 2009 because of US-South Korea military
exercises. North Korea, which has been angered by UN sanctions imposed after its recent nuclear test and annual US-South Korea military drills, threatened to shut down the complex last week.
In recent weeks it has also threatened attacks on US military bases in Asia and South Korean border islands. On Tuesday it said it planned to restart its mothballed reactor at Yongbyon - the source of plutonium for its nuclear weapons programme.
Late on Tuesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry called recent North Korean actions "dangerous" and "reckless".
Timeline: Korean tensions
- 12 Dec: North Korea fires three-stage rocket, in move condemned by UN as banned test of long-range missile technology
- 12 Feb: North Korea conducts an underground nuclear test, its third after tests in 2006 and 2009
- 11 Mar: US-South Korea annual joint military drills begin
- 19 Mar: US flies B-52 nuclear-capable bombers over Korean peninsula, following several North Korean threats
- 27 Mar: North Korea cuts military hotline with South
- 28 Mar: US flies B-2 stealth bombers over Korean peninsula
- 30 Mar: North Korea says it is entering a "state of war" with South Korea
- 2 Apr: North Korea says it is restarting mothballed Yongbyon reactor
"Let me be perfectly clear here
today. The United States will defend and protect ourselves and our
treaty ally, the Republic of Korea (South Korea)," he said after talks
with his South Korean counterpart Yun Byung-se.
In recent days the US has responded to North Korea with a
series of high-profile flights of advanced aircraft, including stealth
fighters and nuclear-capable B-52 bombers, over South Korea. Officials have also confirmed that the USS John McCain, an Aegis-class destroyer capable of intercepting missiles, has been positioned off the Korean peninsula.
A second destroyer, the USS Decatur, has been sent to the region.
Earlier on Tuesday UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had warned that the crisis had "gone too far" and called for urgent talks with the North.
"Things must begin to calm down, there is no need for the DPRK [North Korea] to be on a collision course with the international community. Nuclear threats are not a game," Mr Ban said.
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