Seoul unhappy with border-crossing ban

The Republic of Korea (ROK) expressed regret yesterday over the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s move to bar border crossings by workers from a joint industrial park in the DPRK.

Pyongyang first closed the border on March 9 after cutting off the only remaining hot line with ROK to protest its ongoing military drills with the United States. The DPRK says the exercises are a rehearsal for an invasion. The two use the hot line to coordinate the passage of people and goods through their heavily fortified border.

DPRK reopened the border last Tuesday but closed it again on Friday, stranding hundreds of people working in the Kaesong complex.