SEOUL - NORTH Korea on Monday said that it would go ahead with its threat to effectively close the land border with the South, including expelling South Korean managers from an industrial site just inside its border, from Dec 1.

North Korea's KCNA news agency said it would suspend all tours to its border city of Kaesong, near to the industrial park run by a South Korea firm, and halt rail traffic across their heavily armed border.

It said these were the first steps 'to be taken in connection with the evermore undisguised anti-DPRK (North Korea) confrontational racket of the south Korean puppet authorities.' -- REUTERS