N. Korea Reopens Border To Some

Communist Regime Allows Residents From South Back, But Not Cargo, Factory Workers

(AP)  Three days after shutting its southern border, North Korea partially reopened the crossing Monday to let South Koreans stranded in a northern industrial zone head home.

But North Korea refused to let cargo or workers back across the border to the dozens of factories in Kaesong run by southern business managers, the Unification Ministry said in Seoul, forcing a number of factories to suspend operations.

The border restrictions - the second in a week - have unnerved South Korean business owners who run factories in Kaesong and rely on raw goods trucked from the South to the impoverished North to produce everything from watches and shoes to kitchenware and electronic goods.

South Korea warned that the North would be held accountable for any economic losses caused by the border restrictions.

"We cannot expect stable development of the Kaesong complex if free passage of our personnel and smooth transportation of supplies are not guaranteed," Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyeon said in a statement.

North Korea has provided no official explanation for refusing the Kaesong workers entry, but Pyongyang has been backtracking from reconciliation with South Korea for the past year.

The two Koreas technically remain at war because their three-year conflict ended in 1953 with an armistice, not a peace treaty. The Demilitarized Zone dividing the foes is one of the world's most heavily armed borders.

Relations improved under two liberal presidents in Seoul, but have worsened since conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office a year ago. Most of the landmark, joint inter-Korean projects created during an earlier bloom in relations have been suspended since Pyongyang severely restricted border traffic in December.

Tensions have further intensified in recent weeks with the North announcing it will send a satellite into space - a launch some fear will be cover for a test of its long-range missile technology.

A skeleton staff of South Koreans has been allowed to cross the border to run the last joint project remaining: more than 100 Kaesong factories that employ some 38,0000 North Koreans. The firms give North Korean authorities about $70-$75 cash per worker each month, providing the regime with much-needed hard currency.

But Pyongyang last week cut off the only communications hot line between the two Koreas and shut down the border for a day to protest joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises taking place across the South through Friday.

More than 700 South Koreans were stuck in Kaesong when North Korean officials shut the crossing.

The North agreed to let some 450 South Koreans return home Monday but refused permission to 650 others in the South seeking to get to their jobs in Kaesong, according to the Unification Ministry.

With the prospect of severe short-staffing Tuesday, many chose to remain in Kaesong another night, with fewer than 300 returning to the South, the ministry said.

The uncertainty has taken a toll on production. At least 10 firms have halted operations, and many more will be forced to suspend production within a week if trucks aren't allowed through the border, according to the Corporate Council of Gaesong Industrial Complex, which is made up of South Korean firms operating in the enclave.

One South Korean working at footwear maker Samduk Stafild said by telephone from Kaesong that his factory is struggling from a lack of raw materials. He asked not to be named, saying he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Some firms may reduce or delay paying North Korea because of the slowdown in production, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper quoted an unidentified senior government official as saying.

North Korea is trying to pressure Seoul into softening its hard-line policy toward Pyongyang, analyst Paik Hak-soon said.

"The North hopes South Korea will switch back to a policy of reconciliation and cooperation" to prevent a complete shutdown of Kaesong, the North Korea expert at the private Sejong Institute said Monday.

President Lee has refused to ply the North with aid until Pyongyang abides by its commitment to dismantle its nuclear program. The North agreed in 2007 to disarm in exchange for aid.

In Tokyo, South Korean nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac said he and Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone agreed on "appropriate measures" if Pyongyang fires a rocket next month in defiance of a U.N. Security Council resolution prohibiting the North from ballistic activity. Wi refused to elaborate.

[presjfk]

Hey Japan...DON'T TRY IT!

North Korea is and independent sovereign nation and it just wants to be left alone.

Quit listening to the British who want WWIII to happen and have you blame North Korea instead of yourselves.

Japan and the West have no moral ground to stand on.

And the real issue is not 'nuclear warheads' for Pakistan has that.

The real issue is the Federal Reserve System where North Korea doesn't want to rely on a fiat-currency system to purchase energy from outside its own borders.

Nuclear Energy = Sovereignty
Oil, Solar and Windmills = Colonization by the British Empire of Financial Globalization
Posted by whitemale08"

UR some kind of commie...

[fabrat1]

Yeah the US is already in Japan and ready to defend them from any threats.

[bajajohn1]

North Korea is an oppressive communist regime lead by an unstable dictator who pretends he is God to his people. While the North Koreans live in misery and starve in the bitter cold of that country, the idiot Kim Jung IL. is busy diverting meager resources to his war machine. Communism is the real enemy of personal freedom and free enterprise. Japan has superior technology and should shoot the missile if their national security interests are threatened. Japan is not our enemy anymore. They are staunch allies.

[cbsantispin]

Japan should only shoot down this North Korean launch if Japan is ready for all out war, if not, then Japan should leave it alone.

[mav547166]

Its all fun and games till the Japanese decide to flex their muscle. North Korea and China are lucky that we are there.

[whitemale08]

Hey Japan...DON'T TRY IT!

North Korea is and independent sovereign nation and it just wants to be left alone.

Quit listening to the British who want WWIII to happen and have you blame North Korea instead of yourselves.

Japan and the West have no moral ground to stand on.

And the real issue is not 'nuclear warheads' for Pakistan has that.

The real issue is the Federal Reserve System where North Korea doesn't want to rely on a fiat-currency system to purchase energy from outside its own borders.

Nuclear Energy = Sovereignty
Oil, Solar and Windmills = Colonization by the British Empire of Financial Globalization

[shimano35]

Japan should just send Godzilla over!!!! Problem solved.

[inachu1]

At first I was supportive of Nkorea until I learned the missle goes over a country.
That is plain stupid!
Any country has a right to shoot down anything that violates their air space without their consent.
If Nkorea gets angry then they should learn to aim better.

[aziridine]

Hey, here's an idea. Maybe Obama can talk to them, same a the Taliban and Syria and Hamas! Uncork a little of that Obamagic!!

Hey does anyone remember that Jimmy Carter won a Nobel Prize for claiming that he'd solved the Korean Missile Problem!!!! So Jimmy keeps the Prize while the problem he "solved" festers.

I wonder if Al Gore can keep his as the world cools off.

[aziridine]

Bout time Japan did something constructive. Question is do they have the huevos? I applaud them if they do!

[notblue]

tj217, you and pythoncharlie are two peas in a pod, Apparently neither of you are capable of an original thought or have the ability to write a post that doesn't blame conservative Americans or Bush. Comparing Americans or a U.S. president to Kim Jong Il and his communist regime is absolete idiocy, thanks once again for your self-mitigating comments.

[mjlewis6]

Let the North Koreans SQUANDER their minimal resources and continue to demonstrate to the world their ill-conceived management of their people and its needs until it collapses into itself. North Korea can be rescued from itself when it no longer is capable of invading the South and its military has turned into the First Responders to its own rescue by rejecting nuclear weapons and a preference to FEED the people who are starving...

[xmissile]

I personally think the Japanese should shoot it down if it nears their territory. The Noreans are just looking to pick a fight.

[tbbaot]

Yes they do have the capability, but do they have the skittles to actually do it. I think not and that goes for the US as well.

[LayersGuns-n-Money]

Talk is cheap.. let's see some action..


And the US needs to keep out of this one.. We are not the worlds police force/ peace keepers.. It is time the rest of the world took care of its self..
Posted by cornbiker at 7:04 AM : Mar 13, 2009

Where wre you six years ago?

[straightalk]

People read what they want to see. When did I say it's ok to kill the Japanese? I said USA should stop supplying arms to Japan. By your logic, why is it ok to bomb North Korea? You don't even know what type of satellite they are launching & you want to bomb them already. What gives the US right to bomb, kill & torture anybody they wish? Why is US not accountable to anybody in the world? You are not god!

[straightalk]

Schools in North America do not teach much of history in Asia. Japan started moving into China in the early 1930's. They formally invaded China in 1937. Then joint Germany & moved on to the rest of Asia. Japan did start WWII & their artrocities in Asia was worst than the Nazi's against the Jewish people. Just because Japan did not kill in Europe does not mean they were not guilty. BTW, unlike Germany, Japan never apologize for their artrocities.

[rrozsa]

*YAWN*
Posted by anti-zionist007 at 6:06 AM : Mar 13, 2009

Good morning, A-Z!

[rrozsa]

This is Armageddon. This is the dreaded last great World War. This will be the massive destruction of population on the planet.

Posted by clancy49 at 4:47 AM : Mar 13, 2009

==============

At least we won't have to worry about global warming anymore!

[excop1949]

"If North Korea carries out the launch, we believe there will be discussions and countermeasures from the Security Council," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, referring to possible sanctions.

OOOOOO..."discussions and countermeasures from the (U.N.) Security Council"
I bet THAT scares 'em!