S. Korean companies in N. Korea complain of anti-Pyongyang leaflets

SEOUL, Oct. 26 (Yonhap) -- A coalition of South Korean companies at a joint industrial park in North Korea warned Sunday their businesses are being threatened by anti-Pyongyang groups who continue to fly leaflets into the communist state.

The warning is the second of its kind after the coalition pleaded on Oct. 10 with
the groups representing North Korean defectors and families of South Koreans
allegedly kidnapped by Pyongyang to stop sending balloons containing anti-North
Korean leaflets.
"The leaflets are worsening inter-Korean relations," the coalition said in a
statement Sunday, arguing the practice hurts already strained political ties and
scares investors away.
More than 70 companies are operating in the North Korean border city of Kaesong,
employing about 30,000 cheap but skilled North Korean workers.
The nearly five-year-old complex is seen as one of the few symbols of
rapprochement between the two states that fought the 1950-53 Korean War. It is
the only one remaining after South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in
February with a harder line against the North, leading to a series of spats and
the suspension of dialogue.
"If the complex shuts down, it will further dampen the hopes of both your
organizations and our nation," the statement said, describing the factory park as
the only remaining "channel of reconciliation."
North Korea demanded earlier this month at a rare military meeting that the
leaflets be stopped immediately, threatening through its official media that it
would otherwise sever all ties with the South.
Choi Song-ryong, who leads an association of families of South Koreans allegedly
abducted by North Korea, said his group will continue to press on with the act on
Monday.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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