Seoul - North Korea on Monday further restricted border traffic with South Korea, following earlier cuts on traveller numbers as well as suspending the only train connection across the border.

Pyongyang would allow only 880 South Korean personnel to travel to the joint Korean industrial complex in the city of Kaesong just inside the North Korean border, the South Korean Unification Ministry announced Monday.

The cut brings the number of South Koreans at Kaesong to just under one-fifth of its previous level of 4,200.

North Korea was also restricting access for South Koreans by opening its border checkpoint only six times per day, down from the previous 19 times.

The announcement came just days after Pyongyang suspended the freight rail connection to and passenger rail travel from South Korea.

Relations between the two neighbours have cooled markedly since a conservative government took office in Seoul in February, pledging to link inter-Korean economic cooperation with the North's nuclear disarmament.

North Korea has accused Seoul of confrontational policies and has rejected offers of talks between the two Koreas.

Meanwhile, Seoul called on Pyongyang to stop its latest border restrictions, which it said would hit production at South Korean factories located in Kaesong.

"The measure can never be justified and must be retracted," a spokesman of the Unification Ministry said.

More than 30,000 North Koreans are employed by more than 90 South Korean companies at the Kaesong industrial estate. (dpa)