Inter-Korean joint liaison office opens in DPRK's Kaesong

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The Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) launched their joint liaison office on Friday, securing a platform for round-the-clock communication that is expected to help foster cross-border exchange and ease tensions.

The liaison office was opened in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong, with around 50 people from each side attending the opening ceremony.

The inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex, April 24, 2018. /VCG Photo

"A new chapter in history is open here today," the ROK's unification minister Cho Myoung-gyon said at the ceremony.

He said, "Two sides from today can have direct contact 24 hours a day and 365 days a year."

The move ahead of President Moon Jae-in's visit to Pyongyang next week, is a follow-up on an agreement that the leaders from both sides reached in their April summit.

People attend a march for peace, prosperity and reunification of Korea, Pyongyang, DPRK, photo released on September 12, 2018. /VCG Photo

The building includes separate offices for representatives from the two countries and a joint conference room.

Yonhap reported that the ROK will station around 20 officials there, while the DPRK will deploy 15-20 officials at the liaison office.

The ROK's vice unification minister Chun Hae-sung will serve as a co-head for the office along with the DPRK's Jon Chong Su, vice chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland of the DPRK, a DPRK's agency in-charge of inter-Korean exchanges.

Chun Hae-sung (R, front), ROK's vice unification minister, shakes hands with Jon Jong Su (L, front), DPRK's vice chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland of the DPRK, Peace House, Panmunjom, January 17, 2018. /VCG Photo

The co-heads will meet every week.

The opening ceremony was attended by the ROK's officials and members of the parliament and academia. Among the people from the DPRK who joined the event is Ri Son Gwon, who has led high-level inter-Korean talks for months, according to the ministry.

Some businessmen, who ran companies in a now-shuttered industrial park in Kaesong, were also invited to the opening ceremony.

It was the first time that people who used to run companies in the industrial complex had visited Kaesong since its closure although the ROK's government said that their joining had nothing to do with efforts to resume the operation of the park.

Pedestrians walk past a giant banner showing a picture of the summit handshake between the ROK's President Moon Jae-in and the DPRK's leader Kim Jong Un, Seoul City Hall, September 13, 2018. /VCG Photo

Moon is due in Pyongyang on Tuesday for a three-day visit, his third summit with the DPRK leader Kim Jong Un this year, after he orchestrated a rapid diplomatic thaw on the peninsula and brokered June's Singapore summit between the DPRK's leader and US President Donald Trump.

The DPRK was "willing to denuclearize," Moon said on Thursday, while the US was willing to "end hostile relations" and provide security guarantees, "but there is a blockage as both sides are demanding each other to act first."

(With inputs from agencies)