South Korea will pull out all remaining workers from a jointly run industrial zone in North Korea, it said yesterday, after Pyongyang rejected a call for formal talks to end a standoff that led to operations being suspended.
The decision to remove about 170 people from the Kaesong factory park located just north of the armed border, deepens the conflict between the two Koreas and puts at risk their last remaining channel of exchange that resulted from their breakthrough 2000 summit and a bid to improve ties.
North Korea, angry at UN sanctions and joint South Korean-US military drills, has threatened both countries with nuclear attack in recent weeks.
“Because our nationals remaining in the Kaesong industrial zone are experiencing greater difficulties due to the North’s unjust actions, the government has come to the unavoidable decision to bring back all remaining personnel in order to protect their safety,” South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said.
The North withdrew its 53,000 workers from the complex this month amid spiralling tension between the two Koreas.
The North has prevented South Korean workers and supplies from getting into the zone since April 3.
North Korea rejected the proposal of talks, saying the South has acted in an “unpardonable” manner to jeopardize a “precious” legacy of the rivals’ bid to seek peace.
The North’s National Defense Commission, its supreme leadership body, repeated that what it saw as the reckless behavior of the South had thrown into question the safety of the zone’s operations.
The Kaesong project opened in 2004 as part of a so-called sunshine policy of engagement and optimism between the two Koreas, with 123 South Korean companies producing clothing, household goods and motorcycle helmets employing local workers.
The zone was a lucrative source of cash for the North, providing it with almost US$90 million a year. South Korean manufacturers have been paying about US$130 a month to North Korea for each of the workers they employ.
On Thursday, South Korea made the proposal for formal talks as the South Korean workers who remained at the zone were believed to be running out of food and other supplies. It had demanded an answer from the North by yesterday.
The number of South Koreans in the zone has dwindled from the 700 or so normally needed to keep the factories running to about 170, seen as the minimum number needed to safeguard assets at the 1 trillion won (US$894.73 million) park.
North Korea stepped up defiance of UN Security Council resolutions in December last year when it launched a rocket that it said had put a scientific satellite into orbit.
Critics said the launch was aimed at developing technology to deliver a nuclear warhead mounted on a long-range missile.
The North followed that in February with its third test of a nuclear weapon.
That brought new UN sanctions, which in turn led to a dramatic intensification of North Korea’s threats of nuclear strikes against South Korea and the US.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
RSS