The number of South Koreans traveling to North Korea under the current administration has dropped to the 40 percent level of what it was under the previous government.
 
Statistics Korea released data on Wednesday on North Korea that showed some 76-thousand-500 South Koreans visited the North last year, or the first year of the Park Geun-hye administration. The figure is only 41 percent of the 186-thousand-400 who made cross border trips in 2008, the first year of former President Lee Myung-bak.
 
Most South Korean visits to the North last year were related to the Gaeseong Industrial Complex. The sharp drop in cross-border visitors is believed to be affected by North Korea's nuclear tests and the Park administration's hard-line stance on the regime.