Recently heightened tensions between North and South Korea have eased in at least one way - North Korea is once again allowing a small number of South Koreans who do business in the North to cross the border. South Koreans were stranded in the North for about 24 hours.
　

Gateways to North Korea are shut down, 09 Mar 2009

He says North Korea is allowing the passage of South Korean personnel and automobiles through the Military Demarcation Line separating the two countries.

On Monday, North Korea severed a key North-South military communications line used to arrange limited passage across the tense border. The North describes the move as a response to ongoing annual military drills between the United States and South Korea, which U.S. military leaders describe as routine and defensive. Washington deploys about 28,000 forces here to deter a repeat of the North's 1950 invasion of the South.

Limited numbers of South Koreans regularly cross back and forth to the North for business, mainly at a South Korean-managed industrial park in the North Korean city of Kaesong. Several hundred South Koreans were stranded for about 24 hours in Kaesong after the communications line was cut, but Seoul says the problem has been resolved.

Spokesman Kim says cross-border trips by people and vehicles to and from the Kaesong complex have returned to normal.

The Kaesong complex employs more than 35,000 North Koreans in simple manufacturing for South Korean companies that make apparel and household goods. Until last year, it was seen as the centerpiece of a South Korean policy that sought to win North Korean friendship with investment and aid from the South.

However, North Korea has refused dialogue and gradually severed most contacts with the South Korean administration of Lee Myung-bak, who Pyongyang labels a "traitor." Mr. Lee has delayed implementing previous agreements with the North calling for billions of dollars more of the South's money until there is progress on getting rid of the North's nuclear weapons and resolving other issues.

South Korean analysts say the North's decision to reopen the border is a tacit admission Pyongyang does not want to endanger the Kaesong zone, which is a major source of hard currency for the impoverished government. However, the North-South military communications line remains suspended - and border crossings have to be arranged for the time being via hand-written notes passed from one Korea to the other.

朝鲜再次允许一小部分在朝经商的韩国商人通过边境，至此，进来高度紧张的朝韩关系终于得以缓和。这些韩国商人已在朝鲜滞留24小时。

韩国统一部发言人Kim Ho-nyoun表示，南北韩边境的紧张局面已部分归于正常。

他说朝鲜已经允许韩国个人和车辆通过这条将两国分开的军事分界线。

周一，朝鲜割断了这条重要的南北韩军事通道，该通道用于用于限制人们从局势紧张的边境线出入。美、韩之间每年都在进行军事演习，而美国军事领导人视之为常规性和防卫性的，朝鲜认为割断通道这一举动是对美、韩军事演习的一种反应。朝鲜于1950年对韩国发起进攻，美国为制止朝鲜再次进攻，已经派遣来 28，000名士兵。

少数韩国商人定期往返于朝韩之间做生意，他们主要是去朝鲜开城由韩国人管理的工业园。这条交通要道被切断后，有几百名韩国人滞留在开城，但是首尔方面表示该问题已解决。

发言人Kim说，目前允许个人和车辆往来开城工业园的跨境交通已恢复正常。

在开城工业园区，韩国生产服装和家庭用品的简单制造业公司雇佣了约35，000名朝鲜人。直到去年，该园区还被视为是韩国政策的一个象征，韩国希望通过投资和援助的方式赢得与朝鲜的友谊。

然而，朝鲜拒绝了同韩国的对话，并逐渐割断同韩国李明博政府的许多联系，平壤视李明博为“卖国贼”。李明博曾同朝鲜定下这样的协议：如果朝鲜在解除核武器和解决其他问题上取得进展，韩国将同意朝鲜提出的数十亿美元的援助，然而李明博推迟了该协议的实施。

韩国分析家认为朝鲜重开边境的决定是心照不宣的允许韩国人进入，平壤不希望危机开城地区，这个地区对贫困的朝鲜政府来说是资金的重要供应地。然而，南北的军事通道仍被搁置，目前必须解决边境出入问题，可以采取出示手写凭证的方式出入两国。

strand   [strænd]    v. 搁浅,将...之股弄断
sever   ['sevə]       v. 切断,脱离,分开
ongoing   ['ɔngəuiŋ]       adj. 前进的,进行的  n. 前进,举止,行为
drill   [dril]       v. 训练
deter   [di'tə:]       v. 制止,使...断念
apparel   [ə'pærəl]       n. 衣服,装具 v. 使...穿衣,装饰
centerpiece   ['sentəpi:s]       n. 中心装饰品,(餐桌中央的摆饰)
traitor   ['treitə]       n. 叛徒,卖国贼
tacit   ['tæsit]       adj. 心照不宣的
impoverished   [im'pɔvəriʃt]       adj. 贫困的,赤贫的