North Korea has tightened controls on South Korean personnel and materials leaving and entering the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.

The Gaeseong Industrial District Management Committee said in a notice posted on its Web site Friday that entry and exit to the industrial park have suffered disruptions.

The notice said that upon the North’s request, traveling to the South from the North would be prohibited at ten a.m., ten-forty a.m. and eleven-fifty a.m. for the time being.

The Unification Ministry confirmed the North had made the request last week.

Observers say the communist state apparently made the request in a bid to pressure Seoul to swiftly provide communication equipment in line with an agreement on cross-border transports, communications and customs for inter-Korean zones. The two Koreas reached the agreement in general-level military talks last December.