N. KOREA ORDERS MILITARY TAKEOVER OF COMPLEX

North Korea on Thursday declared an industrial complex it jointly ran with South Korea a military zone and said it was pulling out all its workers.

It comes after South Korea on Wednesday said it would stop operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex, just over the North’s border, in response to the recent rocket launch and nuclear weap- ons test by Pyongyang.

A statement by the North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea carried by the official Korean Central News Agency called the move “a dangerous declaration of war” and said the site “operated for the common prosperity for more than a decade.”

North Korea said it would expel South Korean workers from the site and freeze the assets, including equipment and products, of firms there. Pyongyang also said it would cut two communication hotlines with the South once the workers were expelled.

— Jane Onyanga- Omara