North Korean workers failed to show at the Kaesong joint industrial zone, a day after Pyongyang said it was withdrawing labour and suspending operations at the Seoul-funded complex.

A South Korean soldier sets a barricade on a road leading to the Kaesong joint industrial complex, on April 8, 2013. North Korean workers failed to show at Kaesong on Tuesday, a day after Pyongyang said it was withdrawing labour and suspending operations at the Seoul-funded complex.
 

"As of now, no North Korean workers have reported to work this morning," said a spokeswoman for the South's Unification Ministry.

North Korea announced the temporary closure of Kaesong on Monday, following a tour of the zone by senior ruling party official Kim Yang-Gon.

Some 53,000 North Koreans work for the 123 South Korean companies set up in Kaesong, which was established in 2004 and lies 10 kilometres (six miles) inside North Korea.

After pulling out the workforce and temporarily suspending operations, Pyongyang will "examine the issue of whether it will allow its existence or close it," Kim said.

A rare symbol of cross-border economic cooperation, Kaesong is a crucial hard currency source for the impoverished North, through taxes and revenues, and from its cut of the 53,000 workers' wages.

Turnover in 2012 was reported at $469.5 million, with accumulated turnover since 2004 standing at $1.98 billion.

But Pyongyang has blocked South Korean access to Kaesong since Wednesday, forcing 13 of the 123 South Korean firms operating to halt production.

South Korea's unification ministry said the unilateral withdrawal "cannot be justified in any way" and that North Korea would be held responsible for all the consequences.

"The (South) Korean government will calmly but firmly handle North Korea's indiscreet action and we will do our best to secure the safety of our people and the protection of our property," the ministry said.

The US State Department said permanent closure of the complex would be "regrettable".

"It would not help them achieve their stated desire to improve their economy and better the lives of their people," acting deputy State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said at a press briefing.

More than 300 South Koreans have left Kaesong and returned to the South since North Korea banned access last week. The unification ministry said 475 South citizens were still staying at the complex as of Monday night.

Source: AFP