North and South Korea mainly a Global worry?

Yesterday North Korean authorities banned South Korean workers from entering the Kaesong Industrial Zone. This Industrial Park is seen at the last remaining symbol of cooperation between North- and South Korea.

This move was expected as Pyongyang's rhetoric has increased the tension with a series of threats during the past months. But this isn't the first time North Korea blocks access to the region to all South Korean citizens. They did so as well in 2009 when the political tensions between the two nations rose.

At the same time North Korean experts in Seoul have warned that Pyongyang can be extremely sensitive when it comes to hurting their pride.

Now the South Korean government is said to be worried for the safety of more than 800 workers who still are inside North Korea. South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-Jin said: "we should stop this from going into the worst-case scenario", "But in case of crisis, we consider all options, including military actions".

Call me crazy but I don't understand it! Why not put the safety of ALL the South Korean employees in focus and let them come back to the South?

No! So far only parts of the 822 Korean workers are returning to the South because the South Korean companies opted to keep workers there in order to keep business production afloat.

 

 

 

The longer I live in South Korea, the more I learn and.... the less I understand.

The past months rhetoric between North and South seems to upset many countries but it doesn't seem to upset the South Koreans! They go on with their lives and are looking forward to welcoming the spring! Maybe the best way of handling the rhetoric? Who knows?

 

 

 

Kaesŏng Industrial Park

 

Kaesŏng Industrial Park is located ten kilometers (six miles) north of the  Korean DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) with direct road and rail access to South Korea and an hour's drive from Seoul.

 

The inter-Korean industrial complex is an economic joint venture conceived in 1998 to utilize South Korean capital and North Korean labor in an effort to promote collaboration and peace. About 123 South Korean companies produce a variety of labor-intensive products such as shoes, clothing, electronic goods and chemical products.Several hundred South Korean workers shuttle back and forth across the border every day, including vehicles to deliver raw materials, machinery, finished products and food for the laborers.
The project is an important source of revenue for cash-stricken North Korea. Generating $2 billion a year in trade, more than 50,000 North Korean workers make $92 million in wages, which many suspect trickles into the regime rather than the workers' families.