Inter-Korean liaison offices reopened

South and North Korea reactivated their liaison offices in the truce village of Panmunjom with the reopening of telephone lines. The normalization of the liaison operations came for the first time since November 1996.

Oh Se-Ung, liaison officer for the Seoul side, and his North Korean counterpart, Lee In-ho, had a seven-minute telephone conversation beginning at 9:30 Monday morning, in which they shared the view that the two sides should strive to operate the offices properly in order to activate inter-Korean exchanges.

South and North Korea have installed two phone lines, and will make their first call at 9 a.m. and last confirmation call at 4 p.m. each day.

At the liaison office opening ceremony, held at the Freedom House in the border village in the day, Unification Minister Park Jae-Kyu said that the offices would hold consultations on the implementation of inter-Korean agreements and provide guidance and conveniences for various exchanges between the two Koreas.