S. Korea pulls most of its officials from industrial zone in North

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
South Korea has pulled most of its officials from a joint industrial complex in North Korea at Pyongyang's request, an official said Thursday. The North's move came in response to the South Korean unification minister's recent comment that Seoul will hold off on expanding the industrial zone until the dispute over the North's nuclear programs is resolved, Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyeon said. The North demanded Monday that Seoul pull all 13 officials in the complex's inter-Korean joint office, and Seoul has since brought home 11 officials, Kim said without giving any further details. The sprawling Kaesong industrial complex, located just north of the heavily fortified border, is a prominent symbol of reconciliation between the two Koreas, combining the South's technology and management expertise with the North's cheap labor.