Posted on 04/29/2013 6:38:39 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Seoul monitors possible N.K. military realignment in Kaesong
By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, April 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's defense ministry said Monday it is closely watching North Korea's moves near a suspended joint industrial zone amid rising concern the North many increase its military presence in the border area.
Angered by joint South Korea-U.S. military drills, Pyongyang earlier this month pulled its workers out of the Kaesong Industrial Complex and banned South Koreans from crossing the border to bring food and supplies. After Pyongyang rejected Seoul's offer of talks to resolve the weeks-long stalemate, the South Korean government on Friday told its workers to pull out from the factory park.
The final group of South Koreans working in the complex is expected to leave later in the day, vacating the special economic zone where 123 South Korean-run factories were operated by roughly 800 South Koreans and more than 53,000 North Korean workers.
Amid rising concerns over a prolonged deadlock over the last symbol of inter-Korean relations, remarks by a North Korean official in charge of the factory have fueled speculation that the communist nation is considering bringing its troops back to the border city in a bid to further escalate tensions.
On Saturday, a spokesman for industrial zone quoted by the state-run Korean Central News Agency said the closure of the industrial zone would "create more favorable conditions for the great war" by putting "Seoul at closer distance and pave a wide road for southward advance."
The spokesman for Seoul's defense ministry said South Korean and U.S. troops are closely watching the Kaesong complex to detect any signs of special military movement.
If the deadlock prolongs, Shin Bum-chul, a researcher at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, said in an interview that there is a possibility the North could move some of its personnel and equipment near the zone as means to pressure Seoul.
Military officials say the industrial zone has strategic importance as it lies just 58 kilometers north of the South Korean capital Seoul with a population of 10 million with direct road and rail access to the South. It is located 137 kilometers south of the North's showy capital Pyongyang.
Ahead of the joint park's establishment in 2004, the North relocated two heavily armed army divisions controlling its main tank and artillery brigade stationed in Kaesong and the truce village of Panmunjom northward.
Others said it would be too risky for the North to relocate its troops as it would mean a complete shutdown of the zone. Pyongyang has said the South will be to blame if the joint factory park is shut down.
"The North has escalated tensions in the past month seeking a breakthrough in inter-Korean tensions, and it would be hard to make such an extreme decision," a retired general, who engaged in past negotiations for the industrial zone, said on the condition of anonymity. "Although North Korea could consider troop realignment as leverage to win concessions from the South, it would be difficult to do so in one or two years."
Kaesong was born out the "Sunshine Policy" of inter-Korean conciliation initiated in the late 1990s by late President Kim Dae-Jung which led to a historic summit with then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2000.
P!
The critical indicators just keep coming.
Were the factories in effect nationalized?
It is about to. However, without S. Korean power and water supply to the industrial park, they are unlikely to function properly. Yes, the factories there had been getting electricity and water from S. Korea.
North Korea has plenty of excess power!
They could provide for a hundred Kaesong Industrial Complexes and never notice!
When the BM-21 pallets get put by the launchers, and a general callup of the reserves, we know the balloon is about to go up.
Watch for seizmic activity on the DMZ where there is thought to be undiscovered infiltraiton tunnels.
Dummies? Heck, they’ve invaded our schools like this jerk Myers here sending school groups over to north korea and making money off it. North Korea has threatened to nuke us, says they are at war with us and this guy gets away with pushing hard currency and young minds over to them. He needs to be reported or at least we should let him know what we think of him. Maybe good old peer pressure will shut him down. His website and email and phone below:
http://www.vacationnorthkorea.com/
Email and PHone from Kimjongun buttkisser’s website:
Contact:
Vacation North Korea
Jeff Myers
jmyers3726@earthlink.net
(919) 795-9264
P****S me off that someone can basically aid and comfort the enemy while pushing our children to them too.
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