A cargo train service between North and South Korea was stopped Friday after North Korea shut its border in anger at the government in Seoul, Reuters reported Saturday.
The largely symbolic rail service between Seoul and an industrial park just across the North Korean border had been running largely empty since it began last year as a sign of easing tension between the neighbors. It has been cheaper for companies in South Korea to truck goods from the factories in the North Korean industrial zone than to move them on the rail service.
Some, but not all, of the South Koreans who work in the North Korean factories have had their permits to cross the border revoked.
"The border restrictions and the expulsion from the industrial park come about a week before regional powers are expected to meet in Beijing to resume talks on ending the North's nuclear arms program and compensate it with economic and energy aid," Reuters reported.
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