Oh God... North Korea not allowing South Korean workers into Geaseong Industrial Park

[charlie and algernon]

Sangwon Yoon ?@sangwonyoon 10m

As of 9:00am #NorthKorea hasn't responded to #SouthKorea request to cross border for work in #Gaeseong industrial park: Unification Ministry

S. Korean workers' departure to Kaesong complex delayed

SEOUL, April 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korean workers' departure to an inter-Korean industrial complex in North Korea's Kaesong was being delayed on Wednesday, as the North has yet to give approval to their cross-border trip, officials here said.

The delay came after Pyongyang has threatened to shut down the Kaesong Industrial Complex and launch a pre-emptive nuclear war on Seoul and Washington over South Korea-U.S. joint military drills and U.N. sanctions for its latest nuclear test.

Officials at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Office in Paju, about 50 kilometers northwest of Seoul, said that the North Korean side was not authorizing the daily trip of South Korean managers and cargo over the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas until after 9 a.m.
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2013/04/03/99/0200000000AEN20130403002300315F.HTML

[idwiyo]

1. OK. Don't see what's there to panic about.

[charlie and algernon]

2. it means they could be upping the ante

raising it from just talk to actions. All the analysts have been pointing to this industrial complex, that if it closes, could be a sign that NK is gonna move.

[LiberalEsto]

3. Panty raid scheduled at 1400

[idwiyo]

19. LOL. Exactly!

[idwiyo]

13. What analysis? Do you have any links? I'd like to have a look just for curiosity sake. And no,

I don't take it seriously because there is nothing to be serious about. It's a show on both sides. And it's working really well.

[StrayKat]

4. The factory

is a big source of income for a poor country. It doesn't make sense for them to stop work without cause. Even if they are not planning military action, the people of North Korea suffer for this.

[idwiyo]

12. They are not planning military action. They are doing their annual "lets hype some patriotic

feeling and get citizens motivated" exercise.

What makes sense to them and what makes sense to you (as an outsider) is very different, and they already threatened to close the damn factory because SK said something insulting about NK in relation to the factory. Again, they need the money, they'll open it when Dear Leader decides the time is right. He is puffing up his image as tough leader and a military commander and the show is not for you, it's for his own people.

Nothing new. We get same type of performance from our own governments, its just done slightly different. You witnessed that BS in the aftermath of 9/11 from Shrub: Patriotism, we all stand together, you are with us or you are against us, we will be victorious, they hate us for our freedoms, we'll fight them over there instead of fighting them over here, etc etc.

[charlie and algernon]

5. NBC picking it up now

Ed Flanagan ?@edmundflanagan 5m

Korean media reporting #DPRK is not allowing anyone in&out of Kaesong. YTN reporting there are over 850 people in zone now. Press conf soon.

[amandabeech]

6. Thanks for posting this!

I saw it and was waiting for another source.

Don't like the sound of this at all.

[Malik Agar]

7. 450 people held in North Korea

Hostage situation?

[StrayKat]

8. Where did you see that?

My understanding is that 450+ are being denied entry to N. Korea.

"North Korea has not yet given us the daily permission for the entry of 484 South Koreans into Kaesong today," a South Korean Unification Ministry spokeswoman told AFP.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/afp_asiapacific/n-korea-delays-s-korea-entry-to-kaesong-industrial-park/625330.html

Edit: Although this article implies that there may be more who reside there and don't cross the border.

At present, there are 868 South Korean workers staying at the Kaesong complex, home to 123 labor-intensive factories. The complex, the crowning achievement of the 2000 inter-Korean summit meeting, also employs some 54,000 North Korean workers.

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/northkorea/2013/04/03/3/0401000000AEN20130403003100315F.HTML

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Here from Reuters on the linked story bellow

As of 0054 GMT, 861 South Korean workers were in the zone that is home to 123 South Korean firms just inside North Korea. They employ more than 50,000 North Koreans to make low grade household goods.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/03/us-korea-north-complex-idUSBRE93200F20130403

[tammywammy]

9. Shutting down the industrial park is not good. n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Here, from Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/03/us-korea-north-complex-idUSBRE93200F20130403

A serious escalation.

And lord knows I took a break from the news

[joshcryer]

14. Kaesong workers are coming out.

https://twitter.com/KyungLahCNN/status/319270486083268609/photo/1

edit: appears the 800+ workers are still inside:

https://twitter.com/KyungLahCNN/status/319272421557424131

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. But no new ones coming in

They seem to be closing it...seem is the operative word.

http://live.reuters.com/Event/North_Korea

[amandabeech]

18. N. Korea only allowing S. Korean workers to leave Kaesong, banning entry SEOUL, April 3 (Yonhap) --

N. Korea only allowing S. Korean workers to leave Kaesong, banning entry

SEOUL, April 3 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Wednesday it will ban South Korean workers from entering the inter-Korean industrial park in Kaesong, only allowing South Koreans now staying at the North Korean border town to return home.

Seoul's Ministry of Unification said that it received an official notification to the effect from the North earlier in the day.

"South Korea's government deeply regrets the entry ban and urges it be lifted immediately," ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-seok said in a press conference. He said every effort is being made to ensure the safety of South Korean nationals at the industrial site.

[e-mail]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/northkorea/2013/04/03/89/0401000000AEN20130403005300315F.HTML
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[AndyGra111]

16. Hundreds of Miles Wide.....

North Korea has a front hundreds of miles wide, and an inch deep.
If they unleash a rocket/missile barrage on South Korea, it will be a ONE SHOT deal. Even if they wrap themselves in a nu-clear suicide belt it will be over. Sure, SK damage will be done, but NK has no backstop. I doubt that China will engage, if they value Wal-Mart. But, then again, this isn't Sam Walton's company anymore.

[greytdemocrat]

17. Nuke em from orbit...

Because...

[stevenleser]

20. A lot of analysts said this would be a bad sign. Remains to be seen if they are correct.

Brinksmanship is always a dangerous game.

[davidpdx]

21. South Korean President Geun-Hye Park made a huge mistake

Not pulling every South Korean out of there and refusing to allow them back in when North Korea started this shit. Allowing workers to continue to go up there gives North Korea an opportunity to take them hostage. Stupid idiot....

Let the factory sit empty and the North Koreans penniless. It isn't South Korea that needs the money, it's North Korea. Don't let anymore workers in!