Politics
17:47, 02-Aug-2018
ROK in consultations with UN to waive sanctions for inter-Korean liaison office
Updated
17:26, 05-Aug-2018
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The Republic of Korea (ROK) is in consultations to exempt a joint liaison office with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), which the two sides plan to open this month, from UN sanctions, according to the ROK's Yonhap news agency.
The liaison office would need oil supplies – and therefore a waiver of sanctions on the DPRK – to generate electricity for ROK officials who stay in the DPRK border town.
Yonhap quoted an unnamed ROK unification ministry official as saying the government "continued to consult" with relevant parties on the matter.
The ROK and the DPRK agreed to set up the joint liaison office in the DPRK border town of Kaesong in August.
Its opening would be part of efforts to implement the Panmunjom Declaration signed by ROK President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un after their first summit meeting on April 27 at the border village of Panmunjom.
The inter-Korean industrial complex in Kaesong has been suspended since the previous ROK government unilaterally closed it down in February 2016 over Pyongyang's nuclear test in the previous month.
The scenic DPRK resort of Mount Kumgang was exempted earlier from UN sanctions as it is scheduled to host the reunion of Korean families separated across the inter-Korean border from August 20-26.
The inter-Korean tourism project in Mount Kumgang, launched in 1998, had been suspended since a female tourist from the ROK was shot dead in July 2008 by a DPRK soldier allegedly venturing into an off-limit area.
(Cover: An ROK delegation passes through the inter-Korean immigration office north of Seoul en route to the DPRK border town of Kaesong to prepare for the opening of a liaison office there, June 8, 2018. /VCG Photo)
Source(s): Xinhua News Agency