North Korea Sends Back Some Workers to Joint Liaison Office at Kaesong

It looks like President Trump’s decision to not implement new sanctions on North Korea has caused them to respond by sending back some of the Joint Liaison Office workers:

South Korea expressed hope that planned inter-Korean projects will proceed smoothly after some North Korean officials at the inter-Korean liaison office in the North’s Gaeseong went back to work Monday.

A meeting between the representatives of the liaison office from the two Koreas was held and the office will operate normally, according to the unification ministry.

North Korean officials were quoted by the ministry as saying they came to work “as usual.”

On March 22, North Korea withdrew its staff from the inter-Korean liaison office saying the measure reflected “instructions from a superior authority,” without giving further details.

While the North Korean side has yet to explain the withdrawal and partial return of officials at the liaison office, Seoul remained hopeful about keeping the momentum for talks. 

“We still have to watch the situation as the North’s officials have yet make a full return, but it could be that the North felt pressure after breaking the momentum of talks with the South,” said Oh Gyeong-seob, a researcher at the Sejong Institute.

Korea Times

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