Seoul warns of actions over NK's unauthorized use of Kaesong complex

2024-10-10 15:22:24      点击：303

This photo shows the Kaesong Industrial Park, a joint industrial complex in the North's border city of Kaesong, March 13. Yonhap

South Korea's unification ministry said Thursday it will take necessary steps if North Korea does not respond to Seoul's call to stop the unauthorized use of a now-shuttered joint industrial park in the North.

The ministry's call came as Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, carried photos of a South Korean bus running in Pyongyang on Wednesday. It was presumed to be one of about 300 buses used in the Kaesong Industrial Park to transport North Korean workers before the complex was closed down in 2016.

Seoul's unification ministry said it attempted to notify North Korea of stopping the unauthorized use of the Kaesong complex earlier in the day, but the North has not responded as of now.

"The North's operation of factories in the complex without authorization constitutes a clear violation of South Korean businessmen's right to property and a related inter-Korean agreement," a ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

"The North should immediately stop its act. If the North does not reply to our call, the government will take necessary steps on the grounds that the North concedes its unauthorized use of the complex," the official said, without elaborating.

In July last year, a South Korean commuter bus first appeared in footage on the North's state TV network, in which it was driving in downtown Kaesong.

There have also been signs of the North resuming production at some factories in the complex, according to the ministry.

South Korea shut down the industrial park in the North Korean border city of Kaesong in February 2016 in response to North Korea's nuclear and long-range missile tests. (Yonhap)