TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - South Korean workers on Thursday, February 11, 2016, began shutting down a jointly run industrial park in North Korea. The move, which triggered by the North’s recent rocket launch, will temporarily end, the Koreas' last major cooperation project.
It was unclear how long the shutdown at the industrial complex in the border city of Kaesong would last. Pyongyang has yet to provide comment on the issue, but Seoul said that North Korean workers did not report to work at Kaesong on Thursday.
The shutdown is one of Seoul's strongest available punitive measures and will hurt impoverished North Korea's finances. Seoul said it wants to stop Pyongyang from using hard currency from the park to develop its nuclear and missile programs.
The South's Unification Ministry says about 130 South Koreans are planning to enter Kaesong on Thursday to begin shutdown work, and that nearly 70 South Koreans who had been staying there would be leaving.
REUTERS
