Pyongyang blocks access to key zone

China calls for calm after escalation of tension on the Korean Peninsula

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea on Wednesday banned workers from the Republic of Korea from entering a joint industrial complex at the border town of Kaesong, the Ministry of Unification said on Wednesday.

"We were notified of the ban by (the DPRK) in the morning," Kim Hyung-seok, spokesman for the ministry, which is in charge of the ROK's dialogue and cooperation with the DPRK, told reporters at a news conference.

A worker (left) from the Republic of Korea, arriving from the Kaesong joint industrial park in the DPRK, is surrounded by reporters at the inter-Korean transit office in Paju. [Photo/Agencies]

Workers inside the zone were allowed to leave to return to Seoul, he said.

Kim said the ROK government "deeply regrets the failure of normal cross-border movement" in and out of the zone, adding that Seoul views ensuring the safety of workers at the industrial park as a top priority.

The entry ban came four days after Pyongyang threatened to shut down the joint industrial park, which houses about 120 ROK companies and employs some 54,000 DPRK workers.

Despite the normal operation of factories at the inter-Korean industrial zone until now, the entry ban stops the supply of additional raw materials and workers to the plants, which may lead to a disruption in production if the ban is prolonged.

The move marked an escalation in the DPRK's months-long standoff with the ROK and its ally, the United States. On Tuesday, Pyongyang said it would restart a mothballed nuclear reactor, drawing criticism from the international community.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei on Wednesday called for calm.

"In the present situation, China believes all sides must ... exercise restraint and not take actions that are mutually provocative, and must certainly not take actions that will worsen the situation," he told reporters at a daily briefing.

He said Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Zhang Yesui had met with ambassadors of the DPRK, the ROK and the US on Tuesday and expressed serious concern about the situation on the peninsula.

"We don't want to see any warfare or chaos on the peninsula," Zhang said, according to Xinhua News Agency.

"We oppose any side making provocative statements or doing anything that undermines peace and stability on the peninsula and in the region."

Zhang said China has been paying close attention to tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Meanwhile, Seoul has demanded Pyongyang allow access to the Kaesong Industrial Park. It said the DPRK had allowed all ROK factory managers (roughly 800) and workers in the zone to return home, but added that only 36 had opted to do so on Wednesday, indicating factories were still operating.

Those remaining in the zone were there by choice but could run out of food, as all supplies need to be trucked in from the ROK, according to the Unification Ministry.

"If this issue is prolonged, the government is aware of such a situation materializing," ministry spokesman Kim said.

Some ROK experts said the DPRK's move might be temporary, given the park is a financial lifeline to Pyongyang.

Sense of foreboding

At the ROK border city of Paju, there was a sense of foreboding that Kaesong would be closed permanently, dealing a deadly blow to the one remaining example of cooperation between the two countries.

"Trust between north and south will fall apart, as well as the trust we have with our buyers. We're going to end up taking the damage from this," Lee Eun-haeng, who runs an apparel firm in Kaesong, told Reuters on the southern side of the border.

Lee's business employs 600 DPRK workers who earn $130 on average a month.

Tensions escalated on the Korean Peninsula after Pyongyang said last weekend that it had entered "a state of war" with Seoul. The DPRK warned that it will nullify the Armistice Agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, vowing to nullify all nonaggression treaties. It cut off all cross-border hotlines.

The recent series of threats came in protest to joint military drills by Seoul and Washington, including a two-month field-training exercise, "Foal Eagle", and a computer-simulated war game, "Key Resolve".

Xinhua—Reuters