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North/South Korea

Border crossings restricted

Article published on the 2008-12-01 Latest update 2008-12-01 12:51 TU

Trucks cross the border between North and South Korea.(Photo: Reuters)

Trucks cross the border between North and South Korea.
(Photo: Reuters)

North Korea clamped down on border crossings Monday, preventing workers and supplies from reaching the Kaesong industrial complex and calling into question the future of this symbol of reconciliation.

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The South Korean Unification Ministry announced that the North was allowing only 880 South Korean workers to remain at Kaesong – only half of the number normally required to keep the industrial complex running.

On Monday morning, the border crossing leading to the centre opened later than usual, and the North said that it would cut the number of permitted crossings to six per day from the previous 18, allowing only half as many vehicles to cross each time.

The North has also suspended a cross-border supply train and a day tour program, cutting back on programs that have taken years to negotiate and put in place.

Pyongyang has been angered by South Korea’s new policy of linking economic aid to nuclear disarmament, inflamed recently by the dispersal of propaganda leaflets by human rights groups in the South.

In spite of previous declarations, the North has indicated that is has no intention of closing down the complex, which earns it millions of euros per year. The South, however, has said that the border crackdown will hamper production and undermine market confidence in the centre which produces watches, clothes, shoes and kitchenware.

The Seoul-funded Kaesong industrial centre was constructed just north of the border in 2004 as a way to join South Korean capital to a cheap North Korean workforce.

The Fighters for Free North Korea, a group of defectors living in the South, said that the new restrictions would not dissuade them from a plan to release new pamphlets by balloon across the border on Tuesday.

The pamphlets, which recount the stories of defectors making it safely to the south, will have American one dollar bills attached to encourage people to pick them up.