DPRK officials return to inter-Korean liaison office
Updated 14:13, 25-Mar-2019
CGTN
["china"]
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea restored some personnel to the joint liaison office with Seoul in its border city of Kaesong on Monday, Yonhap reported, citing Seoul's Unification Ministry, three days after Pyongyang's abrupt pullout.
Four or five DPRK officials returned to the office earlier in the day and held a meeting with their South Korean counterparts, according to the ministry official.
The liaison office in Kaesong in the DPRK was opened in September and it had been one of the key developments made in the past year as the inter-Korea relationship improved.
File photo of the inter-Korean liaison office in the DPRK border city of Kaesong. /VCG Photo

File photo of the inter-Korean liaison office in the DPRK border city of Kaesong. /VCG Photo

On the same day, Seoul sent dozens of officials to staff the office, as part of efforts to maintain gains in relations with Pyongyang.
The ROK's Unification Ministry did not explain exactly what the 64 officials would be doing at the office without their DPRK counterparts, but a spokesperson said on Monday Seoul is seeking to try to "normalize" operations at the office.
The ministry's spokesperson Baik Tae-hyun said the government will continue to push for planned inter-Korean projects such as a plan to hold video reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War "in consideration of the situation at the liaison office."
In a major setback for ROK President Moon Jae-in's attempts to engage, the DPRK announced on Friday it was quitting the office, just hours after the United States imposed the first new sanctions on Pyongyang since the second U.S.-DPRK summit broke down last month.
Although Pyongyang did not give a clear reason for the pullout, only saying the decision was based on an order from "higher-ups," several DPRK state media outlets released statements on Monday criticizing Seoul for not pushing forward with inter-Korean economic projects while sanctions remain in place.
Some 39 officials and support staff from the ROK with 17 vehicles left Seoul on Monday morning for the liaison office, joining 25 other ROK personnel still in the office over the weekend.
A bus carrying ROK officials heads to the inter-Korean liaison office in the DPRK border city of Kaesong, March 25, 2019. /VCG Photo

A bus carrying ROK officials heads to the inter-Korean liaison office in the DPRK border city of Kaesong, March 25, 2019. /VCG Photo

"Although the North (DPRK) side has pulled out of the liaison office, the embers remain, and in order to guard the embers we are going to work today as usual," Kim Chang-su, deputy chief of the liaison office, said on Monday as he left for Kaesong.
When asked what personnel will do at the office, Baik said, "We are operating the Kaesong office, followed by putting in efforts to normalize the liaison office" without elaborating.
There are some DPRK personnel currently in Kaesong, including from DPRK's Central Special Zone Development Guidance General Bureau and some support staff, Baik added.
(Cover: Kim Chang-su, deputy head of the joint liaison office heads to the DPRK border town of Kaesong, March 25, 2019. /VCG Photo)
Source(s): Reuters