Building Fire at KIC

A fire was extinguished at a facility in the Kaesong Industrial Complex early Friday (24 December) morning.  Yonhap reports:

A fire broke out early Friday morning at a South Korean-run company in a joint industrial complex in North Korea, an official here said, citing a short circuit as the possible cause.

No one was injured in the fire that broke out at 2:30 a.m. at a container building and spread to a nearby factory owned by a kitchenware manufacturer, the Unification Ministry official said, asking not to be named.

“Fires are not totally uncommon in the Kaesong industrial complex. An electric leakage appears to be the cause here for now,” the official said, declining to comment on speculation of arson.

The official said he did not immediately know the extent of property damage, only saying the fire was completely put out at around 6 a.m. by a jointly-operated fire station in the western North Korean border town of Kaesong.

The factory park houses more than 120 South Korean companies employing 44,000 North Korean workers, the last remaining legacy of detente between the divided countries.