outh Korea pulled all its officials from a joint industrial complex in North Korea at Pyongyang's request Thursday in a diplomatic spat that casts a pall on inter-Korean relations.
The North made the demand Monday in response to the South Korean unification minister's recent comment that Seoul will hold off on expanding the industrial zone until the dispute over the North's nuclear programs is resolved, Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyeon said.
The North gave Seoul three days to pull its officials from the complex's inter-Korean joint office, and Seoul brought home all 11 of them Thursday, Kim said. However, five South Korean civilians in the office are likely to stay there, he said.
South Korea expressed deep regret at the North's demand and urged the communist country to quickly normalize operations at the joint office.
''All responsibilities caused by the North's unilateral demand for the withdrawal lie on the North's authorities,'' Kim said.
The sprawling Kaesong industrial complex, located just north of the heavily fortified border, is a prominent symbol of reconciliation between the two Koreas, combining the South's technology and management expertise with the North's cheap labor.
South Korea is still committed to ongoing economic cooperation with its impoverished communist neighbor because it would create opportunities for both Koreas, Unification Minister Kim Ha-joong said.
''The inter-Korean economic cooperation should be made in a way .... that could become a dynamic force for the North's economic growth and provide us with new markets,'' he said in a message to a forum on North Korean affairs. His message was read by vice unification minister.
The leaders of the two countries agreed to expand the complex during a summit last year.
But new South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has pledged to review rapprochement projects pushed by his two liberal predecessors, saying progress in the nuclear standoff is a prerequisite for further large investment and aid projects in the North.
Sixty-nine South Korean companies operate in the industrial zone, employing 23,220 North Korean laborers, according to the South's management committee.
The North's move is unlikely to affect the operations of South Korean firms in the complex, said Kim Jung-tae, a Unification Ministry official handling inter-Korean economic cooperation.
03/27/2008 12:44 AM
By KWANG-TAE KIM Associated Press Writer
SEOUL, South Korea
outh Korea pulled all its officials from a joint industrial complex in North Korea at Pyongyang's request Thursday in a diplomatic spat that casts a pall on inter-Korean relations.
