The number of malaria patients in South Korea is increasing, possibly due to a halt in inter-Korean cooperation to prevent the disease in the humid DMZ area, the Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday.

According to the Seoul’s government index, malaria infections stood at 2,227 in 2007 but had fallen to 445 in 2013. In 2014 the number of patients increased for the first time in seven years, to 638.

During the decline more than half the patients – 1,700 in 2007 and 228 in 2013 – were from Gyeonggi Province, which borders the North.

The main location for malaria infections on the Korean