Seoul reports fire at abandoned joint factory park in North

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea says a fire has erupted at a now-shuttered inter-Korean industrial park in North Korea. Seoul’s Unification Ministry says the fire was detected from a front-line South Korean observatory post at about 2 p.m. Thursday and appeared to have been extinguished about an hour later. It says it will try to confirm any damage at the complex. The industrial park, established in 2004 during a period of warming ties between the Koreas, was once viewed as a test case for reunification because it combined South Korean technology with cheap North Korean labor. But the complex’s operation was suspended in 2016 amid tensions over North Korea’s weapons program.