(4th LD) N. Korean official blames South in rare inspection of Kaesong complex

(ATTN: ADDS expert view on inspection at bottom, number of visited plants in 2nd para)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Dec. 17 (Yonhap) -- A senior North Korean defense official said Wednesday that Pyongyang's sanctions on the joint industrial complex in Kaesong are "not temporary," but did not warn of more actions as he made a rare inspection of the inter-Korean zone, Seoul officials said.
Lt. Gen. Kim Yong-chol, head of the policy planning office of the North's
National Defense Commission, met with about 150 South Korean businesspeople
operating in Kaesong and inspected some two dozen of their plants, said
Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun.
The visit came amid speculation that Pyongyang may impose further sanctions after
expelling hundreds of South Koreans from the industrial complex and curtailing
border traffic as of Dec. 1. Pyongyang has indicated it may shut down the Kaesong
complex if Seoul continues its hard-line policy toward the North.
"He made no such remarks, as far as I've confirmed with (South Korean) officials
in Kaesong," the ministry spokesman said, when asked by reporters whether the
North Korean official hinted at additional sanctions.
But the spokesman said Seoul will have to wait until the North Korean official
completes his two-day inspection on Thursday for further details.
South Korea's Lee Myung-bak government adopted a stricter policy toward the North
than its predecessors after its inception in February, demanding concrete
denuclearization by Pyongyang and more reciprocity for Seoul's aid.
Seoul officials were trying to learn whether Kim's visit would be a prelude to
further sanctions or a simple inspection. The official conducted a similar
on-site survey of Kaesong on Nov. 6, about a week before Pyongyang announced the
Dec. 1 measures.
Kim called the Kaesong complex "a good example" of reconciliation and accused
Seoul of being responsible for prompting the sanctions.
"Those measures are not temporary, emotional or symbolic," Kim was quoted by the
spokesman as telling the South Korean businesspeople.
"The South says in front that it wants dialogue, but behind, it says
differently," he said. "The Kaesong industrial complex is a good example set by
the Korean people. And around the world, there is no such case in which one
country opens its border region to another."
He will visit more than a dozen South Korean firms in the area to gather data on
how much the number of South Koreans and their cars has decreased following the
implementation of the Dec. 1 measures before returning to Pyongyang, the
spokesman said.
North Korea has reduced the number South Korean officials and managers allowed at
the Kaesong complex by half as part of retaliatory measures against Seoul's
policy. There are currently 88 South Korean companies employing around 36,000
North Koreans at the complex.
Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea specialist at Seoul's Dongguk University, said drastic
sanctions are not likely soon. The defense official's visit appeared to be more
of a survey to examine business operations than a warning about sanctions, he
said.
"The North will see how businesses have been doing after the sanctions, whether
their operations are normal with reduced staff," Koh said.
"I think there's almost no possibility that the Kaesong complex will be shut down
right now," he said. "That can set a bad example for North Korea in operating as
a normal country in the international community and drawing foreign investment in
the future."
The National Defense Commission oversees North Korea's 1.1-million-strong
military, the world's fifth-largest, as the backbone of the communist regime. The
commission is defined by the country's 1988 Constitution as the highest guiding
organ of the military.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)