(2nd LD) N. Korea reopens border for S. Koreans amid tension

(ATTN: ADDS over 1,000 people set to cross border, expert's quote on N.K. message,
RESTRUCTURES)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, March 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea reopened its borders to South Koreans
visiting a joint industrial complex in the communist state, a day after it
severed inter-Korean communications, Seoul officials said.
Hundreds of South Koreans had been virtually stranded after the North Korean
military cut off the last remaining inter-Korean communications channel on
Monday. The closure came as Pyongyang protests an ongoing war exercise by South
Korea and the United States.
"A North Korean military official notified us that the North will allow passage
through the military demarcation line as of 10 a.m.," Seoul's Unification
Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun said.
South Koreans can cross the border only after North Korea is notified of their
planned arrival through the military communication channel. Several other
channels were severed by Pyongyang last year in retaliation against the Lee
Myung-bak government's hardline policy.
The spokesman said the South Korean government repeatedly tried to call North
Korea through a commercial line owned by KT Corp., a major South Korean
communications operator that runs phone lines in the Kaesong industrial complex,
to reopen the border. North Korea responded at 9:10 a.m. through a hand-delivered
letter, he said.
"Movements of people and vehicles across the border have now returned to normal,"
the spokesman said.
As long as the communications channel remains severed, however, cross-border
visits will have to be notified between the Koreas through hand-delivered letters
every morning, he added.
The North said it will keep the channel closed until the joint drill ends on
March 20.
More than 1,000 people were expected to make cross-border visits on Tuesday,
including about 120 people who left for the North after the border reopened,
officials said.
Business trips to the North's Mount Kumgang and others regions in the North also
resumed, they said.
Currently, about 620 South Koreans are staying at the Kaesong industrial complex
and in other North Korean regions.
The complex in Kaesong, several kilometers north of the inter-Korean border and
near the west coast, is a major economic project built after the first
South-North summit in 2000. More than 90 South Korean firms operate in the
industrial zone, producing kitchenware, watches and clothes with some 38,200
North Korean employees.
Seoul analysts agree North Korea does not want to shut down the Kaesong complex,
which generates millions of dollars a year and may help attract foreign
investors. With the one-day border closure, North Korea conveyed the message to
South Korean citizens of what happens when inter-Korean relations are damaged,
said Hong Ihk-pyo, a North Korea analyst with the Korea Institute for
International Economic Policy.
"North Korea made its point clear: inter-Korean economic cooperation is directly
linked to politics, and South Korea and the U.S. are causing the trouble," he
said. "They are reminding South Koreans of the benefits of peace."
Last week, North Korea threatened that it cannot ensure the safety of South
Korean passenger flights in its airspace, prompting major airliners to reroute
flights. The North opened its airspace to South Korean passenger flights in 1998
amid warming inter-Korean relations.
The aviation warning was also seen by some analysts as a move to clear up the
North's airspace before launching what is believed to be a long-range missile.
Inter-Korean relations have dipped to the lowest point in a decade since
President Lee Myung-bak took office about a year ago, adopting a tougher stance
on North Korea's nuclear program and withdrawing Seoul's unconditional aid to the
North.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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