DPRK reopens border for South Korean workers

South Korean vehicles heading to DPRK's border city of Kaesong, wait to pass the gate at the customs, immigration and quarantine office in Paju, near the border village of Panmunjom, South Korea, March 10, 2009. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) agreed to allow South Koreans to make cross-border visits to a joint industrial complex.

SEOUL, March 16 (Xinhua) -- South Korean officials said Monday that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has reopened border crossing for South Korean workers.

The DPRK agreed earlier to resume the overland trips across the inter-Korean border and would allow South Koreans to make cross-border visits to the Inter-Korean Industrial Complex in DPRK's border city of Kaesong, the Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun said.

The DPRK has announced to cut off all military communication channels with South Korea in protest of ongoing joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States. Local media said scores of South Koreans were not able to return home from the industrial complex in Kaesong.

The South Korean government said that there were over 600 South Koreans in DPRK.