South Korea asks North Korea to explain fire at Kaesong industrial complex: ministry

In this 2021 September file photo, a suspended joint industrial complex in North Korea's border city of Kaesong is seen from the South Korean border city of Paju, north of Seoul. Korea Times file

South Korea has asked North Korea to provide an explanation over a fire outbreak at the now-shuttered Kaseong industrial complex but has received no response yet, the unification ministry said Friday.

On Thursday, the ministry said a fire was detected at around 2 p.m. at a factory in the industrial complex in the North's border city of Kaesong, which was shut down in 2016 in response to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests.

"Following the opening call via the inter-liaison office at 9 a.m. today, our government made a verbal inquiry to North Korea asking for the confirmation of the fire, as well as its cause and size," Cha Deok-cheol, the ministry's deputy spokesperson, told a regular press briefing. "We are currently waiting for North Korea's reply."

If any damage to South Korean property is confirmed, the government will review the "necessary measures," including holding consultations with the North, he added. (Yonhap)