Inter-Korean Liaison Office Remains Empty

The inter-Korean liaison office only opened in September 2018 after an inter-Korean summit in the truce village of Panmunjom stands empty amid North Korean threats to demolish it.

The liaison office was opened in a refurbished building in the Kaesong Industrial Complex at a cost of some W9.7 billion to the South Korean government, which only had an authorized budget of W86 million (US$1=W1,204).

But no business of any significance has been conducted there since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump failed in February last year.

The North Koreans boycotted all meetings, but officials went to work every day until they were evacuated on Jan. 30 due to the coronavirus epidemic.

They agreed to maintain contact through telephone calls twice a day, but the North stopped answering the phone last week after announcing it was severing all cross-border communication lines.