KEY POINTS:
North Korea began restricting traffic through its border with South Korea last night - punishment for Seoul's hardline stance towards the communist regime.
North Korea ordered a sharp cut in the number of South Koreans permitted to stay in a joint industrial complex in its border city of Kaesong, allowing only 880 South Koreans - a fifth of the 4200 with permits for the enclave, and about half the number there on an average workday, Seoul's Unification Ministry said.
The order is expected to affect 88 South Korean companies that run factories in Kaesong using North Korean labour.
About 1600-1700 South Koreans typically work in the complex on an average day, managing 35,000 North Koreans employed at the factories.
