"The North has been ready since February, " said Park Soo-jin, a spokeswoman for the Unification Ministry.

WSJ: North Korea Suspends Operations at Kaesong Industrial Complex

South Korea's Unification Ministry, responsible for relations with North Korea, put the burden on Pyongyang.

WSJ: North Korea Suspends Operations at Kaesong Industrial Complex

South Korea's Unification Ministry, which is responsible for relations with North Korea, had no immediate comment.

WSJ: North Korea Suspends Operations at Kaesong Industrial Complex

Patience is a virtue in dealing with North Korea, says an official in South Korea's unification ministry.

ECONOMIST: The Koreas

Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said that the two sides needed to reach an agreement through direct talks.

CNN: Two Koreas to discuss reunions for split families

There are currently more than 20, 000 North Korean defectors in South Korea, according to the South's Unification Ministry.

CNN: South Korea won't return 9 defectors from the North

Early on Monday, South Korea's Unification Ministry said efforts to contact the North via the hotline had been unsuccessful.

BBC: US-South Korea drills begin amid North Korea tensions

Although this was fiercely rejected, officials at South Korea's unification ministry believe the North is considering a shift in strategy.

ECONOMIST: Rumblings from across the razor wire

"As of now, no North Korean workers have reported to work this morning, " a spokesperson for the South Korean Unification Ministry said.

BBC: North Korea workers fail to turn up at Kaesong

"The South Korean government is closely monitoring the situation and preparing for all contingencies, " said Kim Ho-nyun, a South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman.

CNN: Workers stranded as North Korea closes border

South Korea's Unification Ministry flatly denied the report, which comes a week after a frail-looking Kim appeared in public for the first time in months.

CNN: Report: Kim Jong Il has pancreatic cancer

The 29-ton vessel was returning from its fishing operations and mistakenly crossed seven miles (11 km) into North Korean waters, South Korea's Defense and Unification Ministry said.

CNN: North Korea seizes South Korean boat

After registering with the unification ministry in Seoul, you have to find a mediator, often an ethnic Korean living in China who has contacts in the North.

ECONOMIST: North Korea��s price of friendship

South Korea's Defense and Unification Ministry said the 29-ton vessel was returning from its fishing operations and mistakenly crossed seven miles into North Korean waters in the process.

CNN: Report: N. Korea captures S. Korean boat

The Unification Ministry said Wednesday that South Korea has yet to discuss when to start making shipments, what aid items might be sent and how much it will send.

NPR: NKorea Criticizes SKorea Prez's 'Swish Of Skirt'

But a spokesman for South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles relations with the North, said what was needed at this stage was talks between both governments, which Seoul has been requesting.

BBC: North Korea 'to allow Kaesong managers back'

The Unification Ministry said a schedule for the return of staff from the Kaesong plant hadn't been completed, and that the South remains open to dialogue with the North to restart the plant.

WSJ: Seoul to Pull Workers out of North Korea

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- South Korea's Unification Ministry on Friday rejected a demand from the North to repatriate nine of its citizens who defected to the South by boat over the weekend.

CNN: South Korea won't return 9 defectors from the North

The Unification Ministry in Seoul said 43 South Koreans began departing from Kaesong late Monday night and arrived in the South just past midnight after officials arranged vehicles to carry them across the border.

NPR: Most South Koreans Leave North Korean Factory

More than 840 South Koreans were set to cross the border Monday to Kaesong, which provides a badly-needed flow of hard currency to a country where many face food shortages, according to Seoul's Unification Ministry.

NPR: SKorea, US Begin Drills As NKorea Threatens War

South Korea's Ministry of Unification confirmed that the North was no longer answering calls to the hotline, reports Yonhap news agency.

BBC: North Korea cuts military hotline with South

"We have said several times that the U.S.-South Korean military exercises are annual defensive exercises, " Kim Ho-nyun, spokesman for South Korea's Ministry of Unification, said at a news briefing Monday.

CNN: N. Korea warns against intercepting 'satellite' launch

"To threaten military action against a civilian aircraft that is flying under international air regulations is not only against international laws but is an inhumane action, " said Kim Ho-Nyun, a Ministry of Unification spokesman.

CNN: S. Korea reroutes flights, cites 'threat'

Song Young Dae, a onetime assistant minister at South Korea's Ministry of Unification and a former negotiator, admits that it is difficult to judge from Seoul how serious an opposition Kim faces or whether he faces any opposition at all but points to a number of signs that the North Korean leader is in control.

CNN: Kim Jong Il's New Direction