hankyoreh

North Korea on Monday called for the South Korean government to put off all South Korean visits to the Kaesong industrial complex for this week, South Korean officials said.

The request came amid rumors that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il might soon visit the inter-Korean complex in the North Korean border town of Kaesong where South Korean companies produce goods using low-cost, skilled North Korean workers.

"Late afternoon, the The North asked us to delay all events set for this week (in the complex) until after next week, but they didn't elaborate on why they made the request, just saying, '(It was because of) an order from their superiors,'" an official said.

Some 100 officials from South Korea's Prime Minister's Office and reporters covering the office were scheduled to visit the complex on Tuesday while 150 officials from financial institutions were scheduled for Wednesday, and 160 officials whose work is related to the complex were to visit on Thursday.

Rumors of the possibility of Kim Jong-il's visit to the complex have circulated since Choe Seung-chul, vice chairman of the Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, a powerful party organization that oversees cross-border exchanges with South Korea, visited the area on Saturday.

Currently, 23 South Korean companies employ about 15,000 North Koreans, including construction and office workers, at the site developed on a trial basis. The number of North Korean workers is expected to increase to more than 350,000 when the complex becomes fully operational by 2012.

SEOUL, July 9 (Yonhap News)