S. Korea to withdraw all employees from Kaesong
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E-mail Xinhua, April 26, 2013
The South Korean government advised all its employees to leave Kaesong Industrial Complex, Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said in a statement.
"We have no choice but to ask all our workers to withdraw from Kaesong Industrial Complex in order to protect our people's safety since Pyongyang rejected our working-level talks offer," according to the statement.
Ryoon said the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) must guarantee that South Korean employees leave Kaesong safely and protect the property of South Korean firms in Kaesong Industrial Complex under agreement reached between DPRK and South Korea.
"South Korea will continue to provide government support to keep South Korean firms' normal move in the Kaesong Industrial Complex," he added.
The statement came a few hours after the DPRK rejected South Korea government's proposal for working-level talks over Kaesong issues.
The operations of 123 South Korean companies in Kaesong Industrial Complex have been halted for more than two weeks since April 9 when Pyongyang pulled out 53,000 DPRK workers from the industrial zone. Until now there are still 175 workers in the Kaesong Industrial Complex.
South Korea's Unification Ministry Thursday set a deadline talks offer about the Kaesong Industrial Complex to DPRK. However, it was rejected on Friday.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday expressed hopes that operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the DPRK could return to normal "as soon as possible through dialogue."
The inter-Korean industrial zone, launched in late 2004 under the joint management of South Korea and DPRK, has been one of the key symbols of economic cooperation between the two countries.
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