SEOUL - North Korea Monday partially reopened its border to let hundreds of stranded South Koreans travel home from a joint industrial estate just north of the frontier, the unification ministry said.

The ministry said it was unclear whether trucks and people would be able to travel northwards to the Kaesong estate on Monday. Many factory owners say they will soon run out of raw materials unless the frontier reopens.

The communist state on March 9 switched off military phone and fax lines that were used to authorise border crossings, in protest at an ongoing military exercise between South Korea and the United States, leaving hundreds stranded.

The following day it allowed crossings to resume but halted them again last Friday. --AFP