N. Korea to enforce narrower window for border-crossing starting Monday

SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Yonhap) -- The number of South Koreans crossing the heavily
fortified border with North Korea will be cut in half starting this week as the
communist North has vowed to enforce stricter border checks, government officials
noted Sunday.
A gate leading to a joint industrial complex in the North's western border town
of Kaesong will be open only six times a day, down from the current 19 times,
they said.
The number of people allowed to cross the border during each opening will also be
cut down to 250 from the current 500, while the number of vehicles will be
reduced to 150 from the current 200.
North Korea has said the changes will be enforced from Monday.
An eastern road to the North's Mount Geumgang will be in operation only once a
week on Tuesdays, starting this week. The road currently opens twice each day,
according to the officials.
The measures are implemented solely by Pyongyang, which has repeatedly blamed
Seoul for the soured relationship between the two Koreas since the inauguration
of the Lee Myung-bak government in February.
"The prospects for inter-Korean relations will entirely depend on the attitude of
the South Korean authorities," North Korea's chief delegate to inter-Korean
military talks said last Monday in a letter to his South Korean counterpart, in
which the North Korean said his country will also disallow Seoul's cross-border
cargo train service to Kaesong.
The train service was launched late last year following a summit between then
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in
Pyongyang. A South Korean train made its last round-trip to the communist nation
on Friday, before shutting down indefinitely.
The changes will not lead to an immediate shutdown of the Kaesong complex, where
88 South Korean businesses are producing millions of dollars worth of goods with
over 33,000 North Korean workers.
However, the changes are expected to have a large negative impact on the joint
economic project if the situation is prolonged, officials at the Unification
Ministry said.
"There was an understanding between officials from the two Koreas that about
1,700 South Koreans will be allowed to stay at Kaesong even after the Dec. 1
measures are implemented, but the North Korean government has yet to give us an
official confirmation," an official said, asking not to be identified.
Some 50 additional South Korean businesses were earlier expected to move into the
joint complex, designed to give them price competitiveness by employing the
North's cheap labor force.
Officials noted that the businesses may delay moving to the North Korean city, if
conditions do not improve in the near future.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)