The following is a chronology of major events leading up to North Korea’s suspension of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex on April 8.

2003

● June 3: South and North Korea hold an event to kick off the first-stage of construction of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.

2004

● Dec. 15: The first batch of goods is produced in the complex.

2006

● Nov. 21: The number of North Korean workers employed in the zone surpasses the 10,000-mark.

2007

● Jan. 30: Total production reaches the $100 million mark.

2008

● June 22: North Korea claims that the South’s inability to fulfill previous inter-Korean agreements threatens the fate of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.

● June 24: North Korea adopts a decision to partly restrict the movement of South Koreans and goods coming out of the park.

● Oct. 2: North Korea warns that anti-North Korea leaflets spread by South Korean activists will have a negative impact on the Gaeseong park.

● Nov. 12: North Korea says it will shut off cross-border travel through the Military Demarcation Line from Dec. 1.

● Dec. 1: North Korea cuts the maximum number of South Koreans allowed into the park to 880 and restricts commuting time to and from the park in a so-called Dec. 1 measure.

2009

● March 9 ~ 20: North Korea carries out three temporary cross-border travel bans during the joint Key Resolve military drill between the South and the U.S.

● March 30: North Korea opens an investigation into Hyundai Asan employee Yu Seong-jin on charges of criticizing the North Korean political system.

● May 15: North Korea nullifies inter-Korean agreements regarding the park.

● June 8: A South Korean garment manufacturer decides to drop out of the park.

● Aug. 13: North Korea releases Yu after being detained for 136 days.

● Aug. 17: Hyundai Asan Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun returns from her eight-day visit to the North after agreeing on a five-point pact design to boost the park.

● Sept. 1: Cross-border travel normalizes as the North lifts its Dec. 1 measure.

2010

● May 24: The South’s government bans new investment into the park in a so-called May 24 measure designed to punish the North for its torpedoing of a South Korean Navy ship.

● May 27: North Korea’s military chief withdraws military pacts regarding inter-Korean cooperation and exchange.

● Nov. 24: Seoul temporarily prohibits travel to the Gaeseong park following the North’s shelling of Yeonpyeong Island.

2012

● October: North Korea unilaterally imposes massive taxes of about $160,000 on eight South Korean firms operating in the park.

2013

● March 27: North Korea severs the military hot line with the South, used as a channel for cross-border travel.

● March 30: North Korea threatens to shut down the park.

● April 3: North Korea bans South Korean workers from entering the park, only allowing them to leave.

● April 4: North Korea again threatens to shut down the park.

● April 7: Three South Korean firms halt operations due to a lack of materials. The number of South Korean firms suspending operations increases to 13. A South Korean worker is rushed from the park to a South Korean hospital after complaining of a stomachache.

● April 8: Kim Yang-gon, a member of the North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee, announces the North’s decision to withdraw all of its workers from the park and suspend operations there. 

(Yonhap News)