Protesters in the south gathered close to the border in a bid to draw international attention to what they say are gross human-rights violations committed in the Communist North. They shouted "down with Kim Jong-Il's dictatorship" and demanded an end to the practice of political imprisonment.

The demonstrators also released a giant balloon carrying thousands of anti-dictatorship flyers, over the 245 kilometer long border.

The frontier, known officially as the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), was created as part of the armistice which sealed the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War. It is lined with minefields, barbed wire and heavy armaments, and patrolled by a million soldiers.

There are two main crossing points, but they are rarely used. Communication between the two sides is minimal, with virtually no mail or telephone links between the sides.

Could Korea become the next Germany?

But with celebrations underway in Berlin to mark the momentous events of 1989, South Korean commentators have been talking about the possibility of the collapse of the single remaining Cold War frontier.

An editorial in the Korea Herald newspaper said "just as the fall of the Berlin Wall took the West Germans off guard, so may the collapse of the border fences come as a surprised to the South Koreans."

Recent polls suggest that some sixty percent of South Koreans favor unification with the North, but many add that they would be concerned about the financial implications.

And those would be massive. South Koreas gross national income is believed to be 38 times that of its northern counterpart. Analysts believe it would cost more than one trillion dollars for the South to absorb the North, which would be the only feasible scenario were the two sides to unite.

tkw/reuters/AFP/AP

Editor: Jennifer Abramsohn