North Korea Cautions Foreign Workers In South Korea

North Korea Cautions Foreign Workers In South Korea

Foreigners working in South Korea were given a warning by North Korea that they may be caught in the middle of a war if they continue to stay in the country. The recent announcement by the state-run media is the latest warning given by the North following its earlier advice that it cannot guarantee the safety of diplomats staying in Pyongyang.

The statement from the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee of the North also repeated its allegations that Seoul and Washington were provoking Pyongyang to start a conflict on the Korean Peninsula.

The committee said that the conflict will be a full-blown war if it will start and North Korea does not want foreigners residing in North Korea to become casualties in the war. The past few weeks saw a number of threats being issued by the North against South Korea and the United States.

A number of analysts have indicated that most of it was mainly rants against the two countries. These may be nothing more than provocations made against its southern neighbor. However, Japan has indicated that it has set up its missile defense systems near Tokyo in anticipation for a missile test that North Korea may carry out in the next few days.

Amid the threats, over 50,000 workers from the North have not reported for work at the Kaesong Industrial Complex, which is the industrial zone co-managed by the two Koreas that has been in operation for the past eight years.

Pyongyang had previously indicated that the activities at the industrial zone will be suspended for the moment and its workers will not come in for work. The complex is located along the border although it houses over 120 companies from South Korea.

A number of analysts had indicated earlier that North Korea will not shut down the complex since it provides a good source of hard currency for Pyongyang.

Posted by James Fried on Tuesday April 09 2013, 9:50 AM EST. Ref: CNN. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0