Asia-Pacific

ROK officials homebound amid DPRK eviction

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-26 16:15

SEOUL -- Amid heightening tension on the divided Korean peninsula over the blame of surrounding the sinking of a Republic of Korea (ROK)'s warship, the ROK personnel are heading back home after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) told them on Wednesday to leave their joint industrial complex, the government said.

Related readings:  DPRK cuts all ties with ROK, warns of war  DPRK warns over warships entering waters  DPRK rejects ROK demand for apology  DPRK vows to fire at ROK's propaganda broadcast  Seoul: Ship 'torpedoed by DPRK'

Seoul's unification ministry said that eight ROK officials in the border town of Kaesong are scheduled to return to the ROK, as DPRK authorities ordered them to leave a joint consultative office located within the factory park, where some 110 South Korean firms employ about 42,000 DPRK workers producing mostly labor-intensive goods.

The DPRK's move comes at a time when relations between the two sides, technically still at war with each other following the 1950-53 Korean War that ended with a truce, have reached new lows after an international probe publicly accused the DPRK of having deliberately attacked a ROK corvette and killed 46 sailors in late March.

Pyongyang, denying its responsibility, has issued a series of threats including an "all-out war" against Seoul's moves to punish it for its alleged aggression. Expelling all South Korean government personnel was part of its warning that came a day ago.

The ROK government has said that it will not back down on its decision to take a series of punitive measures against its wartime rival, which involves anti-submarine drills with Washington, Seoul's ally, and suspension of trade and bilateral exchanges.