North Korea is closing an inter-Korean factory park for two days to mark the funeral of its late leader Kim Jong-il, a Seoul official said Wednesday.
The industrial complex in the North Korean border city of Kaesong will halt operations Wednesday and Thursday during the last days of the 13-day mourning period for Kim, who died from heart failure on Dec. 17, according to the North’s media.
“I understand that (South Korean) firms operating there agreed with (North Korean authorities) to suspend work today and tomorrow for the funeral and memorial ceremony (respectively),” said the official at South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles relations with the North.
The complex, which marries South Korean capital and technology with cheap labor from the North, is a key byproduct of a landmark summit between then-President Kim Dae-jung and then-North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2000.
More than 120 South Korean businesses employ about 48,000 North Korean workers to produce watches, utensils and other goods.
(Yonhap News)
