N. Korea apparently operating some 10 S. Korean

This Oct. 5, 2022 file photo shows the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a joint industrial park in the North's border city of Kaesong. Yonhap

North Korea appears to be operating around 10 South Korean-owned factories at a now-shuttered joint industrial complex in the North without approval, Seoul's unification ministry said Tuesday.

The ministry said it has detected signs of the North illegally running the factories in the Gaesong Industrial Complex in the namesake border city, and warned of taking potential legal action to protect the property rights of the South Korean owners.

"In light of satellite imagery and other (intelligence), the North appears to be running about 10 factories at the Gaesong complex," a ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

The official said the North is apparently increasing the number of facilities in use and workers at the complex.

Citing satellite imagery taken on April 20, the Voice of America reported Tuesday that brisk activities had been detected at 21 buildings in the complex.

Last month, Unification Minister Kwon Young-se issued a statement strongly condemning the North's repeated unauthorized use of South Korean assets left behind at the Gaesong complex.

South Korea shut down the industrial complex, once a symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation, in February 2016 in response to the North's nuclear and long-range missile tests. (Yonhap)