North Korea has demanded the withdrawal of all South Korean managers and staff from the Kaesong joint industrial zone by next week, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Thursday.

The personnel should leave the complex, which lies 10 kilometres (six miles) inside North Korea, by April 10, Yonhap said without quoting any sources.

The South Korean Unification Ministry said it had received no such formal notification.

As of Thursday morning, there were 823 South Korean citizens in Kaesong, the ministry said.

Source: AFP