S. Korea Politician Starts Rare Visit to N. Korea

South Korea's ruling-party chief Friday began a rare visit to North Korea by a senior Seoul politician, saying he hopes to break a long stalemate in cross-border relations.

Hong Joon-Pyo, chairman of the conservative Grand National Party (GNP), crossed the closely guarded border to pay a one-day visit to a jointly run industrial estate at Kaesong in the North.

"I'm the first chief of the Grand National Party to visit the Kaesong complex," he told reporters, according to Yonhap news agency, adding that it was "a politician's obligation" to try and improve ties.

Hong has said he has no immediate plans to meet senior officials at Kaesong, just north of the border, which was developed under previous left-leaning governments as a symbol of cooperation.

Some 46,300 North Koreans work in 123 South Korean-owned businesses, producing goods such as textiles, kitchenware, watches and other items. The sanctions-hit North earns valuable hard currency from the project.

The trip to the North will be the first by a GNP party chief since the party's candidate Lee Myung-Bak took office as president in February 2008.

Cross-border relations worsened after Lee linked major aid to progress on the North's nuclear disarmament, a stance which enraged Pyongyang.

Ties turned icy after Seoul accused Pyongyang of torpedoing a warship in March 2010 with the loss of 46 lives. The North denied involvement but killed four people in a bombardment of a frontier island last November.

In recent weeks there have been signs of a thaw.

The South's government has allowed religious groups to visit the North, has offered the North flood relief aid and has replaced its hardline unification minister in charge of cross-border relations.

Last week the two sides held a second round of talks designed to pave the way for a resumption of six-nation negotiations on the North's nuclear program.