North Korea blocks South workers from Kaesong

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North Korea has stopped South Koreans from crossing the border to work at the jointly run Kaesong industrial zone, for the first time since 2009.

Seoul said about 800 South Koreans who had stayed overnight at the complex were being allowed to return.

Kaesong is a crucial revenue source for the North, which has not indicated how long the entry ban will last.

Pyongyang has threatened the South and the US in recent weeks, and has vowed to restart a mothballed nuclear plant.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22011207

 

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The story as run in a Seoul English Language paper:

SEOUL, April 3 (Xinhua) -- South Korea on Wednesday urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to normalize the passage of South Korean workers to the Kaesong Industrial Complex after the northern neighbor banned South Korean workers' entrance to the inter-Korean industrial park located at the DPRK's border town of Kaesong.



The entry ban to the Kaesong industrial complex is causing a serious barrier to stable operation of the complex, Kim Hyung- seok, spokesman of the Ministry of Unification told reporters at a briefing. The government is urging once again North Korea (DPRK)' s immediate normalization of the entry ban, while expressing strong regrets over the ban.



The comments came shortly after the DPRK banned South Korean workers' entrance to the joint industrial zone between Seoul and Pyongyang earlier in the day, only allowing the workers to leave Kaesong to come back to Seoul.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-04/03/c_132282578.htm







And another:



http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20130403000897

 

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North Korean employees did not report for work at the complex on Tuesday (9 April), suspending one of the few points of co-operation between North and South Korea.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22082309