North Korea has announced that it will expel all South Korean workers in the inter-Korean Gaeseong Industrial Complex by 5:30 p.m.(KST) Thursday.
 
The North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland also said it will freeze all South Korean assets at the inter-Korean factory park.
 
It said that as of 10:30 a.m., the Military Demarcation Line near the complex has been closed to block the overland routes between the two Koreas, and that the factory park has been turned into a restricted military zone.
 
As all South Koreans are expelled, the North said cross-border military communication channels and the liaison office at the truce village of Panmunjeom will also be shut down.
 
Nearly 250 South Koreans were in the inter-Korean factory complex in North Korea on Thursday afternoon, preparing to evacuate the border city.
 
A Seoul Unification Ministry official told KBS World Radio News it’s uncertain whether all South Koreans left the factory park by the North’s 5:30 deadline. However, the official said that it is unlikely any South Korean nationals will be detained in the North Korean city after the deadline as Pyongyang is in the process of expelling everyone. 
 
The South Korean government on Wednesday announced it would pull all its citizens working at the park in North Korea and suspend factory operations.