N. Korea denies S. Korean bizmen entry to Kaesong

SEOUL, April 17 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Wednesday rejected a request by South Korean businessmen to visit a jointly-run industrial complex in the North's border city of Kaesong to deliver food and check their facilities, Seoul's unification ministry said. Pyongyang has banned South Koreans from visiting the Kaesong Industrial Complex since April 3, accusing the South of committing unacceptable provocations against its sovereign dignity. North Korea also pulled out all of its 53,000 workers from the complex on April 9, effectively halting operations of 123 factories there. "Pyongyang has sent a formal notice that it can't agree to (the South Korean businessmen's visit to Kaesong)," ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-suk said in a news briefing. "Such a decision is very regrettable since the businessmen wanted to go to Kaesong to deliver critical food and medical supplies and explain the difficulties facing the firms to North Korean authorities." Without going into details, the official said the North blamed the South for the current state of affairs on the Korean Peninsula that has crippled operations at Kaesong. "The North's claims are unjust and unacceptable," Kim said. "Pyongyang should take responsible measures to alleviate the plight of workers at Kaesong, and normalize operations at the complex as soon as possible." The official pointed out that Seoul wants to hold onto the complex because of its significance for future inter-Korean relations. The 10 entrepreneurs representing owners of factories at the Kaesong industrial park said they will continue to wait at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) office in Paju, about 50 kilometers northwest of Seoul, and ask the North for passage again in the afternoon. Pyongyang's rejection is seen as showing the communist country has no immediate plans to alter its policy of banning South Korean personnel and materials from entering the joint complex. The joint venture, which is the result of the historic 2000 summit between late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-il, relies on South Korean materials and parts and North Korean labor to make various products that are then shipped south over the demilitarized zone. Work to build the complex began in June 2003, with first the products rolling off the assembly line in late 2004. There are presently 209 South Korean workers at the complex with four expected to return home during the day. Related to the entry rejection, most experts in Seoul said it was expected since Pyongyang had just rejected calls for talks to diffuse tensions by both South Korea and the United States. The North, which had warned it can launch nuclear attacks against South Korea, the United States and Japan in recent weeks, issued an ultimatum early Tuesday outlining its plans to carry out retaliatory action without any notice against Seoul. The latest threat comes after anti-North Korean groups in the South set ablaze effigies of North Korean leaders. Such a move, the North claimed, defaced the "supreme dignity" of the communist country and could not be tolerated. The group burned effigies of late North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, as well as incumbent leader Kim Jong-un. yonngong@yna.co.kr (END)