earlier friday , north korea rejected a new proposal from south korea for talks over the kaesong industrial complex — an effort by seoul to end a standoff that began when the north started preventing traffic from the south from entering the facility on april 3 .
unification minister ryoo kihl - jae said friday that the government has made an " unavoidable decision " to bring about 180 south korean workers home .
north korean soldiers salute in front of kumsusan palace of the sun , the mausoleum where the bodies of the late leaders kim il sung and kim jong il lie embalmed , in pyongyang on thursday , april 25 , 2013 .... ( associated press ) seoul said friday that it has decided to withdraw the roughly 175 south koreans still at a jointly run factory complex in north korea , raising a major question about the survival of the last symbol of inter - korean cooperation .
south korean president park geun - hye met with her security - related cabinet ministers on friday , regarding fate of the kaesong complex .
north korea rejected seoul 's demand for talks on the factory park that has been closed nearly a month .
ryoo urged north korea to protect the property of south korean economic cooperation .
hours on thursday to agree to talks , warning of a tough response if pyongyang did not agree to the offer .
seoul said it issued a friday deadline for north korea to respond to its call for talks because it was worried about its workers not having access to food and medicine .
operations at kaesong , just north of the border , have been suspended since north korea angrily pulled its workers and blocked south korean access to the center earlier this month .