South Korea on Thursday called for dialogue with North Korea to resolve the standoff over Pyongyang’s recent suspension of their joint industrial complex in Gaeseong.

Seoul’s Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae urged Pyongyang to refrain from further escalating tension and to behave as a responsible member of the international community.

Expressing deep regret over the North’s withdrawal of its 53,000 workers at the complex earlier this week, he called on the North to take responsible measures to address “serious pains” that the 123 South Korean firms suffered after its suspension.

“The normalization of the complex should be dealt with through dialogue. To discuss issues Pyongyang has raised, the North should come forward for dialogue,” the minister said in a press conference.

To a reporter’s question over whether Seoul made an official proposal for talks, he said, “The statement is to clarify to everyone that all issues including those about the industrial park and North Korea’s escalating threats should be resolved through dialogue.”

Earlier in the day, the North renewed a threat to permanently close its Gaeseong industrial zone.

“Needless to say, the Gaeseong industrial district will cease to exist should the Park Geun-hye regime continue pursuing confrontation,” the North’s Bureau for Central Guidance to the Development of the Special Zone said.

“The current power holder in the South will never be able to shake off responsibility for having Gaeseong ― which survived even the traitor Lee Myung-bak’s term in office ― all but close,” a bureau spokesman said.

Seoul’s renewed call for dialogue came amid rising military tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The communist state was seen repeatedly changing the locations of its missiles on its east coast on Thursday apparently to impede intelligence efforts that South Korea and the U.S. have reinforced amid signs of their imminent launches.

Military sources said the North appeared to have hidden its two intermediate-range Musudan missiles in storage facilities and then taken them out on several occasions in its “deceptive tactics.”

The transporter-erector-launchers, thought to be used to fire shorter-range missiles such as Scud and Rodong missiles, also continued to move around, confusing the intelligence staff here, the sources added.

“We assume Pyongyang seeks to maximize the fatigue Seoul and Washington have developed while tracking down the whereabouts of the missiles, and to interfere with their intelligence monitoring,” a source said on condition of anonymity.

Some observers said Pyongyang could opt to launch shorter-range missiles instead of the intermediate-range missiles. The Musudan with ranges beyond 3,000 km could reach U.S. bases in Guam and invite international condemnation.

Kim Yeoul-soo, security expert at Sungshin Women’s University, said there might be a set of reasons why the North employed what analysts called deceptive tactics.

“By continuing to shift the missiles’ locations, the North might check (responses from outside) and see if it would be okay to launch the Musudan missiles which could prompt an international criticism,” he said.

“Pyongyang might also seek to impede the allies’ intelligence efforts to minimize the possibility of their missiles being shot down, and at the same time, to test the allied monitoring capabilities. Changing the locations could also make it difficult to predict when they would launch the missiles.”

Japan’s Kyodo News reported on the day that the North erected its missiles on mobile launchers. It said the intelligence on it was confirmed through a surveillance satellite, stressing the possibility of Pyongyang employing tactics to deceive outside watchers.

Bracing for the possibility of any missiles flying over the archipelago state, Tokyo has mobilized its core tracking and interception assets such as Aegis-equipped destroyers and Standard Missile-3 ship-to-air mid-course interceptor missiles. It also plans to use the “hit-to-kill” Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles capable of intercepting hostile missiles at lower altitudes.

Seoul’s Defense Ministry said it could mobilize the “fragmentation-type” PAC-2 interception system should any North Korean missiles be launched and fly toward South Korean territory.

“The PAC-2 missiles cannot cover our entire territory, but we could use the system to shoot (North Korean missiles) if they reach the interception range,” the ministry’s spokesperson Kim Min-seok told reporters.

“The South Korean military is fully ready to address concerns over the possibility that North Korean missiles could threaten the safety of our citizens and territory.”

He added the “general speculation” for now was that Pyongyang might fire missiles between April 10 and 15. April 15 is the Day of the Sun, the birthday of its late national founder Kim Il-sung and one of the North’s biggest national holidays.

Although Seoul believes Pyongyang has already completed necessary preparations for multiple missile launches, analysis varied on whether Pyongyang has fueled up two Musudan missiles ready to be launched from its east coast.

Sources said clear movements had not yet been detected of vehicles delivering fuel for the launches. Analysts said following fuel injection, missiles can be on standby for a week or two, after which oxidants could erode the interior of the launch vehicles.

Meanwhile, international pressure has been building on the reclusive state to stop additional provocations. Not only Seoul, but also Tokyo, Moscow, Beijing and others expressed their stern opposition to the North’s possible missile launches.

“China is opposed to any action by any country that would undermine peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula,” Beijing’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said in a recent statement.

In an article posed on its English website on Thursday, the People’s Daily, the newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, urged Pyongyang not to “misjudge the situation.”

“There are legitimate concerns of their own national security, but there is no reason to violate the relevant resolutions of the U.N. Security Council to engage in nuclear testing and launch missiles using ballistic missile technology, which cannot shirk its responsibility in upgrading tensions on the peninsula last year,” it said.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)