N.Korea Rejects Kaesong Talks

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RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED May 16, 2013

North Korea on Wednesday effectively dismissed Seoul’s proposal for negotiations on removal of production materials and finished goods from the two nations' jointly-run Kaesong Industrial Complex, the Yonhap news agency said.

"We (North Korea) remind (the South) again that the future of the Kaesong complex and inter-Korean relations are dependent wholly on the South Korean authorities' attitude," an unidentified spokesperson of the North's General Bureau for the Special Zone said in an interview with the (North) Korean Central News Agency.

The remarks come in response to Tuesday’s proposal by South Korea's Ministry of Unification to hold talks to alleviate the ongoing plight of the 123 South Korean companies that have been forced out of the complex.

All operations at Kaesong were suspended on April 9, when Pyongyang pulled out all of its 53,000 staff. The complex, located just inside the North Korean border, is the only jointly-run industrial enterprise shared by the two nations, which have remained technically at war with each other since signing an armistice in 1953.

Tensions have risen sharply on the Korean Peninsula since December, when North Korea tested a long-range Taepodong 2 missile, and in February carried out its third nuclear test.

The UN responded with sanctions. The start of joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States last month further irritated the North, which threatened to carry out a nuclear attack on the US mainland, as well as on US forces in the region.

Topics: Asia, DPRK, Russia

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