Seoul - North Korea on Friday again stopped border traffic, denying South Koreans access to the Kaesong industrial complex, sparking fears over the future of the joint project.

South Koreans were denied access even after a joint US-South Korean military exercise ended, the Defence Ministry in Seoul said. Pyongyang had originally cut border traffic during the annual military exercise which ended earlier on Friday.

"North Korea sealed overland passage again, which makes us question whether it is willing to continue the Kaesong industrial complex," Vice Unification Minister Hong Yang Ho said in a press conference.

The Stalinist state announced earlier to reopen communications with the South after almost two weeks, but it remained unclear whether that included normalizing border crossings at Kaesong, which had to be approved via the military communications lines.

Pyongyang denounced the drill as a threat of war and put its troops on full alert during the time of the 12-day manoeuvre. The border crossing with Kaesong, where more than 90 South Korean companies operate was shut down repeatedly, leading to hundreds of South Koreans being stranded in the North and a also cut off deliveries of raw materials. (dpa)