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Gov't warns it can bar S. Koreans from visiting N. Korea
SEOUL, April 26 (Yonhap) -- South Koreans may be barred from visiting North Korea if the communist country takes legal action against a Hyundai Asan employee who has been unlawfully detained by Pyongyang, a government source said Sunday.
The Hyundai employee, who works at the Kaesong Industrial Complex and is identified only by his family name of Yu, has been held for 28 days for allegedly criticizing Pyongyang's political system and trying to lure a North Korean female worker to defect to the South.
The worker in his 40s has yet to be interviewed by South Korean authorities to determine the exact nature of the detention.
"Under the special arrangement governing the Kaesong complex, the two Koreas must reach an understanding on how to deal with serious offenses involving South Koreans (that carry punishments) exceeding warnings, fines and expulsions," the source, who declined to be identified, said.
"If Pyongyang takes unilateral action to indict the worker, it will be a violation of the fundamental rules related to cross-border interactions and will compel Seoul to rethink its stance on allowing South Korean to visit the North," the source stressed.
The bilateral agreement makes clear that Pyongyang should respect the rights of South Korean workers, dwellings and property in Kaesong and the special tourist region in Mount Kumgang on the east coast. The latter has been closed since the shooting death of a female tourist by North Korean guards last July.
He said that if protection for South Koreans nationals cannot be ensured, Seoul will be compelled to review its policies on allowing visits from scratch.
"If this is the case, even employees working at Kaesong will have to get individual, written permission from North Korea that they will not be detained," the official said.
Such a move could effectively make it hard for South Koreans to go to North Korea, crippling normal operations at the complex just north of the demilitarized zone that separates the two countries.
As of March, 101 South Korean factories operated in the complex, employing about 39,000 North Korean workers. The Kaesong park opened in 2005 and produces labor-intensive goods such as clothing, kitchen wares and watches.
Related to the detention issue, Unification Minister Hyun In-taek told lawmakers on April 3 that Seoul will take tough action against any moves that violate the previously signed inter-Korean accord.
The ministry in charge of formulating South Korea's North Korean policies, meanwhile, said it will hold talks with businessmen who operate plants in Kaesong to determine what measures need to be taken to reflect demands made by North Korea to raise fees for labor and the use of land.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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