Gov't issues NK ultimatum on Gaeseong

By Kang Seung-woo

The government said Friday that North Korea must accept preconditions for the normalization of the inter-Korean industrial complex in Gaeseong.

“Safeguards to prevent another halt in operations are needed,” a Cheong Wa Dae official told reporters.

Ministry of Unification Spokesman Kim Hyung-suk also said: “The demand for safeguards is not something that the North can reject and it is within the realm of common sense that adheres to international practices.”

The two sides are engaging in a game of chicken so it can’t be ruled out that it will go the same path as the Mt. Geumgang tourism program, which was shut down in 2008 after a South Korean tourist was shot dead.

Since July 6, the two countries held six rounds of talks to salvage Gaeseong, but collided on how to prevent any unilateral closure of the business zone that has remained idle since early April.

In the previous round Thursday, both delegates left the conference room without an agreement or a date for further talks.

Park Chol-su, the North’s chief delegate, said: “If the fate of Gaeseong industrial zone ends like this, the military would reclaim it.”

In response, the Unification Ministry said that it would take “grave actions.”

Further discussions to get back the joint industrial park track are not likely to take place any time soon.

The North blocked all access to the North’s border city from the South on April 3 and subsequently withdrew all 53,000 North Korean workers employed by the 123 South Korean companies operating there on April 9.

The subsequently withdrew its manpower, mostly managers. The complex, established in 2004, is the last remaining symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation.

Meanwhile, the state-owned (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) argued that the South employed obvious “delaying tactics” at the six rounds of talks held this month, and it must be held accountable for the state of negotiations that have made little headway.

“The South claimed Pyongyang is solely to blame for the suspension of operations at Gaeseong and even mentioned compensation for losses that can only be deemed as being rude one-sided demands,” the KCNA said. “Seoul cannot escape blame for all the fallout that a breakdown in negotiations will bring.”

Despite exchanging sharp accusations, North Korea watchers say that there is still a chance for the two Koreas to return to the negotiating table.

Chang Yong-seok, a researcher of Seoul National University, expected the two sides to meet again for further talks after the Ulji Freedom Guardian, the annual ROK-U.S. joint military exercise, for next month.