North Korea warns South over Kaesong
Iran Press TV
Fri Jul 26, 2013 7:6AM GMT
North Korea has warned South Korea of bringing back the troops that were stationed at the closed jointly-run Kaesong Industrial Zone.
Pyongyang issued the warning on Thursday after delegates from the two neighbors met for the sixth time to hold talks on reopening the complex.
Officials from both sides have so far failed to settle their differences on reopening Kaesong, which lies on the North Korean side of the fortified border and has been suspended since April.
"There is a saying that there are mountains and rivers down the road. This explains well the reality facing us," South Korea's chief delegate Kim Ki-woong said at the start of talks.
"We have always started with nice words but ended in bad results," said Kim's North Korean counterpart Pak Chol-su.
Pyongyang blocked access to the site and withdrew its 53,000 employees in April amid rising tensions with Seoul. South Korea also pulled out the last of its workers on May 3.
South Korea insists that the closure was a unilateral move by the North. Seoul wants Pyongyang to provide a written guarantee that the closure will never happen again.
However, North Korea argues that antagonistic measures and threats by South Korea, particularly a series of joint military exercises with the United States, forced Pyongyang to close Kaesong.
Kaesong houses the operations of over 120 South Korean companies, employing both South and North Korean workers.
The complex was set up following a summit in 2000 that was held between South Korea's then President Kim Dae-jung and former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
MR/HSN
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