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A South Korean delegation discusses the establishment of a joint liaison office with North Korean officials at the Kaesong Industrial Complex’s inter-Korean exchange and cooperation discussion office on June 8. (provided by the Ministry of Unification)

South and North Korea took their first steps toward implementing the Panmunjeom Declaration from their Apr. 27 inter-Korean summit as a joint liaison office advancement team visited the Kaesong Industrial Complex on June 8 for a facility inspection. It was the first visit to the Kaesong complex by South Korean figures in the two years and four months since then-President Park Geun-hye shut it down in Feb. 2016 in response to North Korea's fourth nuclear test and long-range missile test launch.

Headed by Vice Minister of Unification Chun Hae-sung, the 14-member advancement team arrived around 9:30 am at the complex's inter-Korean exchange and cooperation discussion office and inspected the facilities until 4:30 pm under the guidance of a North Korean official before returning to South Korea, the Ministry of Unification announced. The team's members toured the office – which has been mentioned as a candidate site for the joint liaison office – along with the complex's support center, KT communications center, and employee dormitory.

“Most of the facilities appeared outwardly to be in good condition,” the ministry said.

At the same time, the ministry noted, “The inter-Korean exchange and cooperation discussion office and dormitories showed flooding in the underground floors, and numerous places were found to be in need of repair, including some machinery and equipment disabled by flooding, leaking in the walls, and damage to glass.” The South Korean government plans to use the findings from the June 8 visit to develop facilities maintenance and repair plans after discussions with the relevant organizations.

The visiting delegation that day included officials from the Blue House, Hyundai Asan, KT, and the Kaesong Industrial District Foundation. Five North Korean officials offered guidance, including Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland director Hwang Chung-song and Central Special Zone Development Guidance General Bureau director Won Yong-hui.

Meeting with reporters at the Gyeongui railway inter-Korean transit office ahead of the visit, Chun said, “Establishing an inter-Korean joint liaison office is the first measure to implementing the Panmunjeom declaration, and I believe it is an important, significant measure for sustainable advancement of inter-Korean relations.”

With the Kaesong complex lying idle for over two years since its sudden closure in Feb. 2016, some had been watching to see whether the advancement team would also inspect the complex's infrastructure during their visit. But Chun stressed that the purpose of the visit that day was “fundamentally to inspect facilities related to the establishment of a joint liaison office.”

He was apparently stressing the government’s basic stance that setting up a joint liaison office in the Kaesong Complex is unrelated to reopening the complex, which is a matter that might be considered depending on North Korea’s denuclearization.

Establishing a joint liaison office in Kaesong permanently staffed by officials from both South and North Korea was agreed to in Article 1, Paragraph 3, of the Panmunjeom Declaration made by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Apr. 27.

Then in the high-level talks on June 1, the two sides agreed to “establish a joint liaison office in the Kaesong Industrial Complex at an early date” and for a South Korean team of inspectors to visit Kaesong before June 15 to assess the facilities and set up and run a temporary joint liaison office there. The primary functions of the joint liaison office that the two sides identified during the meeting are ongoing dialogue between inter-Korean officials and support for private-sector cooperation and exchange.

South Korean Vice Minister of Unification Chun Hae-sung and the other 13 members of the advancement team head to North Korea through South Korea‘s CIQ (Customs

An office for discussing inter-Korean economic cooperation had been set up in the Kaesong Complex in 2005, with South and North Korean officials permanently assigned there for deliberations, but this office was shut down by North Korea after the South Korean government under ex-president Lee Myung-bak announced the May 24 Measures, which imposed sanctions against North Korea following the sinking of the Cheonan corvette in 2010.

By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter

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