North Korea is to begin lifting traffic restrictions at its border with South Korea on Friday, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported today, quoting South Korean officials, according to dpa. Pyongyang announced on Monday that it would reopen its border to South Korean tourists and allow reunions of divided families after months of rising tensions between the two neighbours. South Korea then approved the visit of a delegation from Pyongyang for the funeral of ex-president Kim Dae Jung - the most senior delegation from the North to visit the South in at least two years. The North imposed restrictions on cross border traffic in December 2008 in protest at the tough line taken against it by conservative South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, who took office 10 months earlier. North Korea said the easing of border restrictions could lead to a normalization of the flow of workers and goods travelling to the joint factory zone in Kaesong, just inside North Korea. The North Korean delegation is due to arrive in Seoul on Friday, headed by two senior officials of the communist Workers' Party who are believed to be senior aides to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. The delegation was due to leave on Saturday, a day before the funeral Kim Dae Jung, who promoted efforts for a dialogue with the North during his presidency from 1998-2003. The North has also been sending signals it is ready for a dialogue with the United States, following the visit to the North by former US president Bill Clinton two weeks ago.
