(2nd LD) N.K. official inspects Kaesong complex amid chilly ties

(ATTN: UPDATES headline, lead, throughout)
SEOUL, Dec. 17 (Yonhap) -- A senior North Korean defense official inspected the
joint industrial complex in the North's border town Kaesong on Wednesday, Seoul
officials said, amid speculation that Pyongyang may further curtail inter-Korean
business exchanges amid chilled ties.
Lt. General Kim Yong-chol of the North's National Defense Commission visited
South Korean businessmen operating in Kaesong and inspected their plants, said
Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun.
The North Korean official's visit comes after Pyongyang expelled hundreds of
South Koreans from the industrial complex and drastically cut traffic across the
border by South Koreans as of Dec. 1. Pyongyang said it may shut down the Kaesong
complex should Seoul continue its hardline policy toward it.
Kim told the businessmen that the purpose of his visit was to "convey the meaning
of the Dec. 1 measure, check how it has been implemented and look into the
current situation of the Kaesong industrial complex," the ministry spokesman told
reporters.
Seoul officials were trying to learn whether Kim's visit would be a prelude to
further sanctions or a simple inspection, the spokesman said.
The North Korean official conducted a similar on-site survey of Kaesong on Nov.
6, about a week before Pyongyang announced the Dec. 1 measures. He will visit
more than a dozen South Korean firms in the area before returning to Pyongyang
Thursday, the spokesman said.
North Korea has reduced to half the number of South Korean officials and managers
allowed at the Kaesong complex as part of retaliatory measures against Seoul's
policy.
Amid the tightened controls, several South Korean companies are reportedly
canceling plans to build factories at Kaesong. There are currently 88 South
Korean companies employing around 36,000 North Koreans at the complex.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)