North Korea promised to allow 861 South Koreans currently staying in Kaesong to return home if they wished, the ministry said. But on Wednesday, more than 480 South Koreans who showed up at a border crossing were denied permission to cross, said the Unification Ministry of South Korea, which is in charge of relations with the North. North Korea is angry about ongoing South Korea-U.S. military drills and new U.N. sanctions over its Feb. 12 nuclear test, its third. North Korea had "ratified" a merciless attack against the United States, potentially involving a "diversified nuclear strike", the KCNA statement concluded after railing against annual war games between South Korea and the United States that run throughout April. The North's rising rhetoric has been met by a display of U.S. military strength, including flights of nuclear-capable bombers and stealth jets at the annual South Korean-U.S. military drills that the allies call routine but that North Korea claims are invasion preparations. The jointly run industrial complex, in the North Korean town of Kaesong, had continued to operate for days since the North threatened to shut it down. The North had threatened the move in reaction to taunts from the South Korean news media that the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, had cut hot lines and other communications across the border, but did not want to risk one of his most precious sources of hard currency. The U.S., meanwhile, called for North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions, saying it would be "extremely alarming" if Pyongyang follows through on a vow to restart its plutonium reactor. HAGEL: MUST TAKE THREATS SERIOUSLY 
 
 Hagel said he had to take the threats seriously, language he has used in recent weeks as the United States has revamped its missile defense plans and positioned two guided-missile destroyers in the western Pacific to bolster missile defense. “They have a nuclear capacity now,” he said. It said on Tuesday it would revive a mothballed nuclear reactor able to produce bomb-grade plutonium.
– Some action from North Korea after weeks of harsh words: Pyongyang has blocked nearly 500 South Korean workers from entering a jointly run factory park just over the heavily armed border in the North today. As Reuters reports, the move to block South Koreans from going to their jobs at the Kaesong Industrial Park, dubbed the "last remaining symbol of detente" between the rivals by the AP, puts a vital source of revenue for the North at risk. As such, some South Korean experts believe the move could be a short-lived one. And signs suggest the factories haven't been shuttered: Though the North has given the OK for the 861 South Koreans working in the zone to travel home, as of today fewer than 40 had done so, reports the New York Times. However, Reuters notes that the South transports all supplies to the complex, so food stocks could begin to dwindle. Entry to the park, which is home to 123 factories, was previously blocked three times in 2009, once for a three-day period. The move comes amid increasing hostility from Pyongyang, include yesterday's threat to restart its sole nuclear reactor.