North Korea on March 10 agreed to allow South Koreans working in a joint industrial zone in North Korea to cross the border after Pyongyang's move to cut the last military hot line to Seoul left hundreds stranded overnight, officials said.

North Korea put its troops on alert and cut the hot line March 9 as the American and South Korean militaries began joint maneuvers. The communist regime warned that even the slightest provocation could trigger war during the 12-day drills.

The North stressed that provocation would include any attempt to interfere with its impending launch of a satellite into orbit. U.S. and Japanese officials fear the launch could be a cover for a test of a long-range attack missile, and have suggested they might move to intercept the rocket.

"Shooting down our satellite for peaceful purposes will precisely mean a war," North Korea's military threatened in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. Any interception attempt will draw "a just, retaliatory strike," it said.