North Korea to Seal Border with South

Aid and investment to the North by South Koreans had reached its peak during a decade of two previous left-wing administrations. A South Korean conglomerate Hyundai Asan has poured in $656 million into developing the Mt. Kumkang resort, northeast of the border. Another $2.28 billion was invested in an economic industrial complex spearheaded by Hyundai Asan and Korea Land Corporation. Almost 2 million South Korean tourists have visited Mt. Kumkang and more than 100,000 took a tour to Gaesong, contributing over $120 million to the North.

What exactly is the border like?

Since the end of the Korean War in 1953, the partition that separates both countries has become the world's most heavily fortified border. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) acts as a buffer which stretches 250 kilometers (154 miles) long and 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) wide. With no final peace treaty agreed, the two Koreas remain technically at war. The area is guarded by almost two million solders from both sides, equipped with mines, electric fences, and bunkers. Some 150,000 tourists, half of them foreigners, visit the border every year to glimpse the last frontier of the Cold War.

But during the past decade of North-South détente, new roads and rail networks have been built to open the military border to civilian traffic. About 12,000 to 18,000 South Koreans with permits have been passing through the border every month for tourism, business, humanitarian purposes and official visits. It is, however, a one-way street. The North does not allow its citizens to travel to the South.

Why does North Korea want to close the border?

On top of the exasperation with the current nuclear talks, this year North Korea has harshly criticized the South's new conservative government and its tougher stance.

On the civilian front, anti-North Korean interest groups have been sending tens of thousands of propaganda leaflets condemning the communist leader Kim Jong-Il, using huge helium balloons. The North Korean military last month threatened that if flyers continue it will "not only turn [the South] into sea of fire with our advanced preemptive strike, but will also make everything into rubble."

"North Koreans think that these leaflets could have been stopped by the authority of the South Korean government," said Paik Haksoon, a senior fellow at Sejong Institute. "They are thinking that it's time to teach South Korea a lesson."