Inter-Korean liaison offices to open Aug. 14

South and North Korea agreed Thursday to resume liaison operations Aug. 14 and exchanged lists of their liaison officials. The lists were delivered through telephone messages on behalf of the chief delegates of the inter-Korean ministerial conference.

At the same time, the two Koreas discussed matters related to liaison work through liaison officers at the truce village of Panmunjom. Unification Ministry officials said that the reopening of the liaison offices is a result of the agreement reached at the first South-North ministerial talks held in Seoul last month. In order to maintain smooth mutual contacts prior to the exchange visits of inter-Korean separated families slated to begin August 15, Seoul proposed the recommencement of liaison operations and Pyongyang made a similar suggestion, enabling the two sides to reach an accord without difficulty, the officials added.

The reopened offices will take charge of liaison work ahead of important talks between the South and the North. In preparation for an expected increase in inter-Korean personnel exchanges, the office will install an inter-Korean dialogue room, a mutual contact guidance room, a mail exchange room and a telephone switchboard.