Seoul urges North Korea to end Nuclear Programs

South Korea on Friday called on North Korea to end its nuclear and missile programs as Seoul marked the 100th day since shutting down the joint industrial complex in the communist country, Yonhap News Agency reported.

    Seoul shut down the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North's border city of the same name on Feb. 10 in response to Pyongyang's January nuclear test and long-range rocket launch in February.

    The decision came amid concerns that money generated from the factory zone is bankrolling the North's nuclear and missile programs.

    Seoul's unification ministry said that the closure of the complex reflects the government's resolute decision to take into account national security. "We urge North Korea to suspend its nuclear and missile provocations and show its sincere commitment toward denuclearization," Jeong Joon-hee, a ministry spokesman, told media. 

    The complex, which opened in 2004, had served as a major revenue source for the cash-strapped North. A total of 124 South Korean companies operated in the zone, some 50 kilometers northwest of Seoul, employing more than 54,000 North Korean workers to produce labor-intensive goods, such as clothes and utensils. 

    The shutdown of the complex is presumed to have inflicted more than 815 billion won ($685 million) in losses, according to the local firms.

Source: QNA