SKorea: 'Window of Dialogue' Still Open on Kaesong Complex

South Korea says it is still open to dialogue with the North to resolve a dispute over a joint industrial complex that appeared Tuesday to be in serious danger of permanently closing.

Seoul's Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said Pyongyang should reconsider talks aimed at restarting production at the Kaesong industrial zone, where only seven South Korean workers remain.

"The offer of talks (to North Korea) is still valid. The North should accept our offer of dialogue."

North Korea has held up the departure of the seven remaining South Korean nationals at the complex just north of the border, because of what it said are last-minute issues with taxes and wages.

Forty-three of the last 50 workers at the Kaesong complex returned home Monday. The departure of the remaining workers would break the final peaceful link between the Korean peninsula foes.

Seoul announced last week that it was removing its nationals from Kaesong after Pyongyang rejected an offer to hold talks on restarting the complex.

More than 100 South Korean-owned factories had employed North Korean workers at Kaesong. But the North withdrew its 53,000 workers from the facility earlier this month, part of its angry reaction to expanded United Nations sanctions following its latest nuclear test.

The decade-long agreement provided North Korea with hard currency income and the South with cheap labor. The withdrawal will be the first time the factory will be empty since its opening in 2004. 

The Kaesong standoff is only the latest flashpoint in what has been weeks of tension on the Korean peninsula. Another issue of contention for North Korea is the annual joint military drills between Seoul and Washington.

South Korea Defense Ministry spokesperson Kim Min-seok said the last of the two-month-long military exercises ended successfully on Tuesday. But he warned that the joint U.S.-South Korean forces remain on alert.

"The Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises, which have been taking place for two months, ended today. However, the South Korea and U.S. militaries will continue to closely observe North Korea's possible provocations including the missile launch and other movements."

Intelligence reports indicate Pyongyang has moved several mid-range missiles to its east coast in apparent preparation for a test launch. The North has repeatedly threatened to attack South Korea and the U.S., though the threats have subsided in recent days.