Traffic across inter-Korean border remains as usual

SEOUL, May 27 (Yonhap) -- Inter-Korean traffic across the sea and land borders
continued as usual, a Seoul spokesman said Wednesday, in the wake of the North's
nuclear test that has sharply raised regional tension.
More than 400 South Korean workers crossed the military demarcation line in the
morning to visit a joint industrial complex in the North's border town of
Kaesong, said Chun Hae-sung of the Unification Ministry. About 400 people were
expected to return in the afternoon, he said.
Ships sailed near the other side of the border according to an inter-Korean
maritime accord. Five North Korean commercial boats were passing through South
Korean waters, while dozens of South Korean ships were currently in North Korean
territory, the official said.
The maritime accord was reached amid brisk inter-Korean relations in 2004 and
ratified the following year to allow commercial vessels to save time and fuel.
Commercial traffic continued, but humanitarian and other visits were now
suspended. Following the North's second nuclear test on Monday, South Korea
imposed a temporary ban on border trips by its citizens, mostly humanitarian aid
workers and social activists. Only those who work at the Kaesong park and the
Mount Kumgang resort, where scores of Hyundai Asan Corp. workers stay to maintain
suspended tourism facilities, can travel to the North.
South Korea also joined a U.S.-led security campaign, the Proliferation Security
Initiative, in response to the nuclear test. North Korea has warned it will be a
"declaration of war" if Seoul joins the anti-proliferation drive to seize ships
and planes suspected of carrying weapons or mass destruction. Its primary targets
are believed to include North Korea.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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