South Korea said on Wednesday it was edging towards a deal with North Korea to ensure the return of the remaining workers at a joint industrial zone that has become a casualty of military tensions.
The Kaesong industrial complex – built 10 kilometres north of the tense border in 2004 – was once a rare symbol of inter-Korean cooperation but now faces the possibility of permanent closure.
South Korea had been due to pull out its remaining workers on Monday but seven remained to settle unresolved issues such as unpaid taxes and wages for North Korean workers, believed to amount to millions of dollars.
“Differences are being narrowed even if the pace is slower than we expected,” a spokesman for the South’s Unification Ministry told reporters.
He said the South Koreans had remained at the Kaesong industrial complex “voluntarily” to resolve the issues at the North’s request, downplaying fears they might be held hostage.
Seoul last week ordered all remaining South Koreans to leave after Pyongyang banned entry by southerners, pulled out all its own 53,000 workers and rejected the South’s call for talks on the impasse.
