Industrial Link Severed

The Kaesong industrial park, which is operated by South Korea just north of the border, has been a symbol of reconciliation and cooperation between the two Koreas. There, some 35,000 North Koreans work at 84 South Korean factories. But On Nov. 12 the North Korean military notified the South it would "strictly restrict and cut off" traffic across the border beginning in December. Pyongyang has shown anger at conservative South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, who took office in February with a pledge to link the South's aid to progress in efforts to end North Korea's nuclear program. In recent years, South Korea has supplied an average of 400,000 tons of rice and 300,000 tons of fertilizers annually to the North to help it cover its food shortage, but Lee's Administration hasn't shipped them this year.