Less than 1,000 S. Koreans allowed to stay in Kaesong

SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- Pyongyang has decided to allow fewer than 1,000 South
Koreans to work at a joint industrial enclave in North Korea starting Monday,
sources said, far below the level wanted by Seoul.

The North informed the South's private Kaesong Industrial District Management
Committee of the decision on Sunday, the sources said Monday.
The figure is far less than the 1,600 to 1,700 demanded by Seoul. The committee
had been negotiating with the North over how many would be permitted to stay in
the Kaesong industrial complex.
Over half of the 4,000 South Korean officials and managers working at Kaesong had
packed up and left the complex over the weekend after North Korea ordered the
number of staffers to be reduced to half starting Monday.
North Korea also suspended cross-border rail services and sightseeing tours to
the ancient North Korean city and drastically scaled back open border hours for
South Koreans as part of initial retaliatory measures against what it calls
Seoul's hard-line policy toward Pyongyang.
The North, however, vowed to guarantee management activities by 88 small-sized
South Korean manufacturers operating at the complex.
The Kaesong complex is a major cash cow for the impoverished country.
sshim@yna.co.kr
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