South Korea on Monday dismissed an “incomprehensible” list of North Korean demands for reviving suspended operations at a jointly-run industrial park.
The Kaesong Industrial Complex, opened north of the border in 2004 as a rare symbol of co-operation, has been shut indefinitely with the withdrawal of all North and South Korean workers amid soaring military tensions.
On Sunday, the North’s National Defence Commission led by leader Kim Jong-un said re-starting the complex would require the South to cease all “hostile acts and military provocations”.
It cited preparations for a joint South Korea-US military drill scheduled for August, as well as activists and defectors who use balloons to send anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.
“The North’s demand, as you probably know, is completely incomprehensible and unfair,” said Kim Hyung-Seok, spokesman for Seoul’s Unification Ministry which handles inter-Korean affairs.
“We urge the North again... to come forward for dialogue instead of making such unfair demands,” Kim told reporters.