N. Korea to Shut Border With South

North Korea says it will cut access to South Korea on Dec. 1, by closing the border and severing the sole civilian phone link between the two nations, the BBC reports. The North has grown increasingly hostile to the South since it elected President Lee Myung-bak, who promised to “get tough” with Pyongyang. His government co-sponsored a UN resolution criticizing North Korea’s human rights record.

"It is really appalling that the puppet regime is taking a leading role in the racket of a so-called UN resolution on human rights in the North," said a statement from the North Korean government. "The South Korean puppet authorities should never forget that the present inter-Korean relations are at the crucial crossroads of existence and total severance."
(More South Korea stories.)