South Korea wants talks with NoKor over closed factory
SEOUL ( AFP) Ñ South Korea yesterday offered North Korea formal talks on suspended operations at their joint Kaesong industrial zone, and hinted it might pull out entirely if Pyongyang declines the proposal.
The South said it was offering working- level talks to resolve the impasse over Kaesong, a rare symbol of inter-Korean cooperation that has become the most notable victim of escalating military tensions on the Korean peninsula.
But the offer came with an ultimatum of unspecified “grave action” if Pyongyang fails to accept the proposal within 24 hours.
“There is no change to our government’s firm position that Kaesong should be maintained and developed,” Unification Ministry Spokesman Kim Hyung-Seok said.
“But we cannot let this situation at Kaesong continue as it is,” he added.
Kim did not elaborate on what measures might be taken, but the ultimatum suggested South Korea was considering a permanent withdrawal from the zone, which normally employs 53,000 workers at 123 South Korean companies.
The talks proposal came a day after Seoul announced pan- governmental action to help firms with factories in Kaesong deal with liquidity problems caused by lost production and the cancellation of orders.
Established in 2004 and lying 10 kilometers inside North Korea, Kaesong is a crucial hard currency source for the impoverished North, through taxes and revenues, and from its cut of the workers’ wages.
The project was born out the “Sunshine Policy” of interKorean conciliation initiated in the late 1990s by South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung which led to a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2000.
It operates as a collaborative economic development zone that hosts South Korean companies attracted by its source of cheap, educated, skilled labor.
Turnover in 2012 was reported at 469.5 million, with accumulated turnover since 2004 standing at 1.98 billion.