SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Wednesday blocked South Koreans from crossing the part of their heavily armed border that leads to an industrial park that the two nations have operated for eight years.
The move came four days after North Korea threatened to shut down the industrial park, in the North Korean town of Kaesong, out of anger over United Nations sanctions and joint military drills that the United States and South Korea are conducting on the Korean Peninsula.
When 179 South Korean workers and managers and 153 vehicles heading for Kaesong showed up at a border crossing on Wednesday morning, North Korea refused them permission to cross, said the Unification Ministry of South Korea, which is in charge of relations with the North. It was unclear whether the refusal was a communications problem or a more serious threat from the North. The industrial complex operated normally, the ministry said, but if the blockade continued, 861 South Korean workers would be stranded there.
The industrial park, near the western edge of the border, has been a source of badly needed cash for the North, which has faced heavy global sanctions. It generates more than $92 million a year in wages for 53,400 North Koreans employed by 123 textile and other labor-intensive South Korean factories there.
Its fate is seen as one indicator of how far North Korea may be willing to take its recent threats against South Korea and the United States. The site's continued operation has been considered one of several signs that North Korea was not going to match its tough talk with actions.
It was not the first time that North Korea had disrupted the park's operation. It blocked cross-border traffic for four days in 2009, out of anger over joint military drills by South Korean and American troops. Hundreds of South Koreans were stranded in Kaesong, and inventories of factory supplies nearly dried up. That blockade was lifted when the military exercises ended.
The current military drills are to continue until the end of April.
Wednesday's blockade came a day after North Korea announced plans to restart a reactor at its main nuclear plant in Yongbyon, a step that would reverse gains from a short-lived 2007 nuclear disarmament deal with the United States. The North's General Department of Atomic Energy also said it would use a uranium-enrichment plant on the site for its weapons program. It had always insisted that the uranium plant was making reactor fuel to generate electricity, although the United States has suggested that the uranium is meant for bombs.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
North Korea Blocks Workers From South at Border
Dengan url
https://dunialuasekali.blogspot.com/2013/04/north-korea-blocks-workers-from-south.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
North Korea Blocks Workers From South at Border
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
North Korea Blocks Workers From South at Border
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar