Pyongyang allows ROK personnel to go home

Three days after shutting its southern border, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) partially reopened the crossing yesterday to let ROK personnel stranded in a northern industrial zone head home.

But the DPRK refused to let cargo or workers back across the border to the dozens of factories in Kaesong run by ROK business managers, the the Republic of Korea's (ROK) Unification Ministry said in Seoul, forcing a number of factories to suspend operations.

The border restrictions - the second in a week - have unnerved ROK business owners who run factories in Kaesong and rely on raw goods trucked from the ROK to the DPRK to produce everything from watches and shoes to kitchenware and electronic goods.