Unification Minister Kim Ha-joong has urged North Korea to withdraw its plans to shut its border with South Korea and strictly control cross-border passage.

During his meeting with representatives of South Korean businesses in the North's Gaeseong Industrial Complex, the minister said the North should not threaten Gaeseong businesses or undermine market confidence for political reasons.

Kim said the government will do its utmost to cut down on South Korean civic organizations’ spread of anti-communist leaflets across the border into the North. The groups' continued dissemination of the leaflets has inflamed Pyongyang.

The minister reconfirmed the government’s commitment to further the development of the Gaeseong complex and urged the business leaders there to remain calm and concentrate on operations.