SEOUL, Nov 24: North Korea said on Monday it would suspend a historic cross-border railway service from next week and restrict other frontier crossings in protest at what it called South Korea’s policy of confrontation.

The hardline communist state also said it would “selectively expel” South Koreans based at two joint projects developed as symbols of reconciliation, the Kaesong industrial estate and the Mount Kumgang tourist resort.

Military authorities would “strictly restrict” border crossings by South Koreans bound for the two projects, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

A popular tour by Southerners to the North’s ancient city of Kaesong would also be suspended, the agency said, announcing what it called “the first step to cope with the prevailing grave situation in relations.” But the impoverished North indicated it would not force the closure of the Kaesong industrial estate, which earns it tens of millions of dollars a year.

In letters to business groups, quoted by the South’s unification ministry, it said half the South Korean staff at the estate must leave but essential materials and staff could still pass through the heavily fortified frontier.

The North on Nov 12 had announced plans “to strictly restrict and cut off” border passages from Dec 1. Monday’s statement was the first indication of what it intends to do.

The restrictions could severely hamper operations at Kaesong, where more than 32,000 North Koreans earning around $60 a month work for 83 South Korean-owned factories along with about 1,500 South Koreans.

The North said that despite its Nov 12 warning, “the South Korean puppets are still hell-bent on the treacherous and anti-reunification confrontational racket.” It denounced comments by South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak during his US trip last week. Lee reportedly said his ultimate aim is reunification of the peninsula under a liberal democratic system.

The border curbs follow months of icy relations, including threats by the North over cross-border propaganda leaflets dropped by Seoul activists.—AFP