South Koreans still at joint factory after deadline

By: 9 years ago

A South Korea Army soldier stands guard at the customs, immigration and quarantine office near the border village of Panmunjom, in Paju, South Korea, on Feb. 11. South Korean workers on Thursday began shutting down a jointly run industrial park in North Korea, a move that will end, at least temporarily, the Koreas’ last major cooperation project as punishment over Pyongyang’s recent rocket launch. AP

PAJU, South Korea—Well after the deadline set by North Korea for South Korean workers to leave the joint factory park passed, South Koreans told The Associated Press by phone that they had been instructed to wait for further instructions from South Korean officials.

Some South Korean workers left the Kaesong industrial complex in the North before the North’s expulsion order, and a handful of others were seen leaving afterward, but South Korean officials didn’t know what would happen to its nationals who had not departed by Pyongyang’s 5:30 p.m. (Seoul time) deadline. They also didn’t how many remained at the factories. South Korea said it would ban reporters from the border crossing on Friday.

A manager at a South Korean apparel company at the complex, who declined to give his name, said he and one other South Korean at his company were waiting in an office for word about when they could leave.

He said he was not sure whether he would return to the South on Thursday. He said he did not see any North Korean officials and did not know whether other South Koreans were there.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the military buildup along the western portion of the border with North Korea was a measure to counter any provocation from its rival.

The report didn’t elaborate.

The defense ministry said it could not confirm the report, which cited an unidentified military official.

The reported military buildup Thursday came after the North Korean decision to expel South Koreans from the joint factory park.

North Korea also said Thursday it was also pulling all its workers from the Kaesong complex just across the tense border in response to the South’s suspension of operations there following North Korea’s long-range rocket launch on Sunday.

The North further said it was shutting down two crucial cross-border communications hotlines.