North Korea Expels South Koreans From Joint Park, Cuts 2 Hotline Ties

Pyongyang said it would expel all South Koreans working at the Kaesong industrial complex Thursday, freeze all the assets of South Korean companies operating there, and place the zone under military control.

The legislation comes in the wake of Pyongyang’s recent satellite launch and technical advances that USA intelligence agencies said the reclusive Asian nation is making in its nuclear weapons program. The committee said that President Park Geun Hye was “a fool” for ending operations at the complex, which was the last vestige of economic cooperation between the two countries, calling the suspension ” a risky declaration of war”.

Seoul said its decision on Kaesong was an effort to stop North Korea from using hard currency earned from the park to develop its nuclear and missile programs.

Tensions were raised after the North’s nuclear test last month followed by a long rage rocket launch on Sunday.

North Korea previously cut communication hotlines with the South in 2013, but reopened them after relations improved. A third hotline is used by the Red Cross.

Dozens of lorries were seen returning south over the border on Thursday, laden with goods and equipment, and workers were leaving.

Around 54,000 North Korean workers were employed by 124 South Korean firms with production facilities in Gaeseong.

South Korea’s government and companies have invested more than 1 trillion won ($852 million) to pave roads and erect buildings in the park, which lies on the outskirts of Kaesong, North Korea’s third-largest city.

Japan also toughened its sanctions on the North this week, including by restricting remittances from members of its Korean community to North Korea, and a ban on North Korean ships entering Japanese ports.

“If the South Koreans really have any reason to suspect us of illegal shipments, which violate UN Security Council resolutions, then the evidence must be presented”, the paper quoted Ulyanov as saying. “From 10 p.m. on February 11, (the North) will seal off the industrial park and nearby military demarcation line, shut the western overland route and declare the park as a military off-limit zone”.

The association plans to kick off a special team to assess the damages from the shut-down and demand the South Korean government for compensation.

In a bellicose statement, North Korea said South Korea’s actions had brought the peninsula to brink of war, and compared Seoul’s moves in shuttering the complex to “dropping an ax on one’s own foot”.

Still, Pyongyang took precautions to ensure the workers it hand-picked for the complex had minimal contact with their South Korean managers that could be potentially subversive.

A senior official from the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said new measures to be taken by each country should focus on drying up the financial resources of the Kim Jong-un regime. Some South Korean snacks have become popular among North Korean workers.