North Korea wants to keep Gaeseong complex open

North Korea wants to continue to develop the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, an

unidentified North Korean official said Sunday. The official made the remark at a meeting of a joint commission handling operations at the complex in the North's town of Gaeseong, according to a unification ministry official Monday.

Pyongyang also complained about Seoul's decision to reduce the number of its

workers at the industrial park, and banned South Korean firms from taking equipment out of the country, the ministry official said.

Seoul announced last week that it would cut down the number of its workers at the complex by 40 to 50 percent as part of measures to make the North accountable for the sinking of a South Korean Navy ship, which took the lives of 46 sailors.

The North Korean official also mentioned that the communist country will forbid

South Koreans from removing corporate property and facilities from the complex

unless certain conditions are met.

Only those inspected by North Korean authorities and found to be defective can be taken to the South on the promise of returning them after repair within a certain period of time. Also companies with debts or owing overdue wages to workers in the North will have to settle the unpaid bills first.

Observers, however, are cautious about the prospects of the inter-Korean project, which has remained one of the last symbols of reconciliation between the two Koreas since it was established in 2003.

They point out that the North's latest remarks contradict its earlier threat to shut a cross-border route leading to the Gaeseong site in retaliation for a set of measures South Korea announced on May 24.

Seoul revealed the details of the government's military, economic and diplomatic

actions to punish Pyongyang, including bans on investment and exchange,

increased military exercises with U.S. forces and the resumption of propaganda

broadcasts along the Demilitarized Zone. The two Koreas remain technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

The Gaeseong project has combined South Korean capital and know-how with

cheap labor from the cash-strapped North Korea. Some 110 companies employ

about 42,000 North Koreans and 1,000 South Koreans at the complex.

The project has been a cash cow for the communist North as it helps the

impoverished economy earn approximately $50 million annually.

Some experts claim Pyongyang's softened stance may reflect its concern that the

park's closure would leave the reclusive regime with one less key income source.

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