S.Korea FM says “window of dialogue” still open with Pyongyang

South Korea’s Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said on Monday that a “window of dialogue” remains open with North Korea, despite the North’s new threat to shut down a jointly-run industrial complex that serves as the last-remaining symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.

The fate of the eight-year-old industrial park in the North’s border city of Kaesong was called into question after Pyongyang withdrew all of its 53,000 workers from the Kaesong zone on April 9, forcing the 123 small-scale South Korean factories there to suspend operations.

To justify its move, Pyongyang pointed to South Korea’s alleged intention to use the Kaesong complex for launching an aggression against the North.