SHENYANG, China -- China on Thursday decided to temporarily shut down the southern part of its popular Mount Paekdu tourist site on the border with North Korea for safety reasons in the aftermath of the North's recent nuclear test.

"We've made the decision as rock slides took place at the southern tourist site of 'Changbaishan' (the Chinese name of Mount Paekdu) Wednesday afternoon.... Safety concerns still exist as rocks continue to fall little by little there," said an official of the authority in charge of managing the Chinese side of the mountain in northeastern Jilin Province. 

However, the northern and western parts of the volcanic mountain will not be affected by the decision, the official said. 

"The southern tourist part will not reopen until any potential danger is cleared," the official said.

The southern part is the closest to Kilju, North Hamkyong Province, where Pyongyang conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3, triggering a 5.8 magnitude earthquake. The test is sure to have caused serious safety problems to the tourist site.

The Jilin tourist committee also posted the decision on its account at China's most popular social media site Weibo. (Yonhap)