S. Korea extends ban on trips to N. Korea: officials

ASTANA. November 24. KAZINFORM South Korea on Wednesday extended its ban on its citizens traveling to North Korea for another day after a deadly artillery attack from the communist country earlier this week caused at least four deaths, an official said, Kazinform refers to Trend News.

The ban came into effect hours after the North fired at least 170 shells across their border on Tuesday, killing two marines and two civilians on the western South Korean island of Yeonpyeong.

A Unification Ministry official in Seoul said the government has decided to extend the ban for another day, citing concerns over the safety of South Koreans traveling to the North Korean border town of Kaesong, where the countries run a joint industrial complex.

About 700 South Koreans were staying in Kaesong as of Wednesday and 14 others at a joint mountain resort in eastern North Korea, according to the ministry.

The ban applies to South Koreans who regularly travel to Kaesong, but it essentially restricts all trips to North Korea because Kaesong remains the only place South Koreans routinely visit, Kazinform cites Trend News. See www.en.trend.az