Monday, March 25, 2019

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: S. Korean officials begin work without N. Koreans at Gaeseong liaison office



The two Koreas opened a joint liaison office at Gaeseong last September to keep the door of communication open 24-7.
But after only six months, Pyeongyang has pulled out its staff from the facility, leaving just South Korean officials there.

Despite the North's sudden pullout, the Unification Ministry's deputy chief of the liaison office expressed the South Korean government's will to keep hope alive.

Kim added North Korea cooperated well with the administrative process needed for South Korean officials to cross the border, which could be seen as an indication Pyeongyang isn't about to shut down the channel entirely.

But the weekly meetings between both sides' directors haven't been held since early March after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump failed to reach an agreement at the Hanoi summit in late February.



The UN Security Council's sanctions committee for North Korea has allowed a Christian organization to send more humanitarian goods to the North for six months.

Ten items including baby products, clean water, and medical supplies, will be sent to children's hospitals.

The Mennonite Central Committee in North America also plans to deliver medical supplies during a monitoring visit in May.

This is the third time that a U.S. organization has been given the green light to travel to the North... since U.S. Special Representative for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, said late last year... that Washington will review its policies on travel bans for humanitarian reasons.


President Moon Jae-in, during his weekly meeting with his top secretaries, is expected to discuss the latest developments on North Korea issues as well as the earthquake in Pohang two years ago.

If the president does speak on Pyeongyang pulling its staff out of the inter-Korean liaison office last week -- it would be the first acknowledgement by the president himself on what could be seen as a setback in his denuclearization drive.

It could also be the first time that the president has commented on the revelations that the earthquake that shook the city of Pohang in 2017 was a man-made disaster, caused by a geothermal power plant.

Source: Arirang News

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