South Korean army soldiers patrol along a barbed-wire fence near the border village of the Panmunjom, in Paju, South Korea, Monday, April 8, 2013. North Korea said Monday it will recall 51,000 North Korean workers and suspend operations at a factory complex it has jointly run with South Korea, moving closer to severing its last economic link with its rival as tensions escalate. (AP Photo/Ahn Yong-joon)
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean workers aren’t showing up for work Tuesday at the factory complex Pyongyang has jointly run with South Korea since 2004.
Some South Korean managers at the Kaesong industrial complex just across the border in North Korea said Tuesday they would stay at work even without their co-workers.
Pyongyang said Monday it will suspend operations at the complex and pull out more than 53,000 workers. Closing the factory would sever North Korea’s last economic link with its rival as tensions escalate.
Shutting the complex would show that Pyongyang is willing to hurt its own economy to display its anger with South Korea and the United States.
Pyongyang has unleashed a torrent of threats following U.N. sanctions punishing the North for its third nuclear test, on Feb. 12.