05 April 2013 (02:28 UTC-07 Tango)/24 Jumada l-Ula 1434/16 Farvardin 1391/25 Yi-Mao (2nd month) 4711

An estimated 53000 DPRK workers have not shown up for work at the Kaesŏng Industrial Region (KIR).  Some analysts say it might be because of a North Korean holiday, however, they also said it was common for the capitalist ROK corporations to ask DPRK workers to work on holidays.

To show how important the cheap North Korean labor is to South Korean capitalists, South Korean media got this reaction from an unnamed manager of one of those companies: “Without the arrival of new parts and materials, and the need to make full use of trucks that cannot return if they cross over the DMZ [De-Militarized Zone], companies must pace their production schedules….At most, the food will probably run out in a week, which would make it hard for South Korean workers to stay at Kaesong.”

Even with the threat of starvation officials in Republic of Korea say they do not see any reason to evacuate ROK workers from KIR as demanded by the DPRK: “When the situation requires, the withdrawal should be carried out for the safety of workers there, therefore (the government) is not considering withdrawal.”-Ryoo Kihl-jae, ROK Unification Minister

Also, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reporting that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is preparing two medium range ballistic missiles for launch.

Yonhap cites South Korean and U.S. military sources.  They say that two BM25 Musudan have been loaded on their mobile launchers (aka TEL, transporter-erector-launcher), after being shipped to the east coast, along the coast with the Sea of Japan (facing the Pacific).   Earlier reports had said that one BM25 Musdan was being moved to the east coast.

The U.S. and ROK sources say the TELs have now been hidden.