South to close joint industrial project

SEOUL — South Korea said Wednesday that it will shut down a joint industrial park with North Korea in response to its recent rocket launch, accusing the North of using hard currency from the park to develop its nuclear and missile programs.

The decision to end operations at the industrial complex in the North Korean border city of Kaesong, the last major cooperation project between the rival countries, comes after North Korea on Sunday launched a long- range rocket considered by other nations to be a banned missile technology test.

By closing the complex, South Korean President Park Geun- hye has done something her conservative predecessor resisted, even after two attacks blamed on North Korea killed 50 South Koreans in 2010. It is among the strongest punitive measures available to her.

South Korean Unification Minister Hong Yong- pyo said at a news conference that the suspension of operations at the park would stop the North from using currency earned there to develop nuclear and missile technology.

The park, which started producing goods in 2004, has provided $ 560 million of cash to impoverished North Korea, Hong said.

There was no immediate reaction to the move from North Korea.

South Korea’s government will provide financial compensation to companies that operate at the park, the Finance Ministry said.

South Korean businesses with factories at the park reacted with a mixture of disappointment and anger. In a statement, the association of South Korean companies in Kaesong denounced the government’s decision as “entirely incomprehensible and unjust.”

Lee Eun Haeng, chairman of Ilsung Leports, which produces fashion goods at the park, said the companies had become “victims” of a political situation.

North Korea launched a long- range rocket Sunday carrying what it said was an Earth observation satellite into space. The launch, which came about a month after the country’s fourth nuclear test, was quickly condemned by world leaders as a potential threat to regional and global security.

Japan announced Wednesday that it will impose new sanctions on North Korea to protest the rocket launch. The U. S. Congress is also considering imposing more stringent sanctions.

And in Washington, Senate leaders pledged on Wednesday to take swift action on legislation imposing more stringent sanctions on North Korea for willfully violating international law by pushing ahead with its nuclear weapons program.