Pyongyang has already banned South Koreans from entering, but Kim Yang-Gon, secretary of the party's Central Committee, said Pyongyang would now "temporarily suspend the operations in the zone and examine the issue of whether it will allow its existence or close it".

BBC: North Korea nuclear test 'not imminent' says South

At the July meeting of the party Central Committee, for example, Secretary General Le Kha Phieu repeatedly invoked the name of Ho Chi Minh to justify party policy.

CNN: Vietnam and the Crisis