N.K. official visits Kaesong complex amid chilly business environment

SEOUL, Dec. 17 (Yonhap) -- A North Korean senior defense official is visiting the
joint industrial complex in the North Korean city of Kaesong to hold talks with
chiefs of South Korean companies operating there, the Unification Ministry said
Wednesday.

The visit by Kim Yong-chol, a senior official of North Korea's National Defense
Commission, comes after Pyongyang enforced measures to control travel across the
border by South Koreans as of Dec. 1. The North has repeatedly warned that
business operations at Kaesong could be affected unless Seoul changes its
hardline policy toward Pyongyang.
Local companies have reportedly already started to cancel plans to build
factories there as concerns mount over deteriorating inter-Korean relations.
There are currently 88 South Korean companies employing around 36,000 North
Koreans operating at the complex.
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