North Korea warns foreigners: leave South Korea

The state-run KCNA news agency said on Tuesday: “We do not wish harm on foreigners in South Korea should there be a war,” citing its Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee.

The latest message from Pyongyang comes following a warning that foreign diplomats should quit their embassies in North Korea, saying they could not guarantee their safety from Wednesday.

We do not wish harm on foreigners in South Korea should there be a war. KCNA

10 April is seen as a crunch day in relations between North Korea and the South and her western allies, following the warning. South Korean officials have predicted that a nuclear or missile test could be due to take place on that day.

Industrial tension

The drama of increased tension between North and South has also been played out in the Kaesong industrial park (pictured below), a special administrative area of North Korea where the two countries collaborate for mutual economic development.

North Korea uses the park as a key source of foreign investment, around $2bn a year, while it gives the South the opportunity to benefit from cheaper North Korean labour.

South Korea’s president Park Geun-hye said she was disappointed after North Korea halted operations at the park.

“Investment is all about being able to anticipate results and trust, and when you have the North breaking international regulations and promises like this and suspending Kaesong while the world is watching, no country in the world will invest in the North,” Park said.

A spokesman for textile company Taekwang Industrial and at least two other firms said North Koreans workers had not shown up for work and that production had stopped.

I think Russia, like others beholding this situation in North Korea, would like to see China exercise more… influence. Ashton Carter, US deputy defence secretary

More than 100 representatives from businesses operating at Kaesong held an emergency meeting at which they pleaded for the South Korean government to intervene to reopen the facility.

“Reopening the gates to Kaesong would be the greatest step towards normalising operations,” Yoo Chang-keun, a senior representative of firms in the complex, told reporters.

The North’s official KCNA news agency said the complex was being suspended as Seoul was trying to “turn the zone into a hotbed of war” against the North. It said no decision had yet been made on shutting it for good.

Foreign concerns

World leaders have expressed alarm at the escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula. China, the North’s sole diplomatic and financial ally, has shown increasing impatience and said on Tuersday that it opposed any side-taking steps to worsen the situation.

In Washington, US Deputy Defence Secretary Ashton Carter urged China to use its influence with the North and said Moscow wanted similar action from Beijing.

“I think Russia, like others beholding this situation in North Korea, would like to see China exercise more of the influence that it evidently has with North Korea,” Carter said.