Inter-Korean liaison office temporarily closed over coronavirus outbreak
This Sep. 24, 2018, file photo shows the inter-Korean liaison office in Gaeseong, North Korea, with the Korean unification flag hung on the exterior windows of the building. Joint Press Corps
By Jung Da-min
The two Koreas have agreed to suspend operations of their joint liaison office located in North Korea's Gaeseong as a part of efforts to prevent the spread of a deadly new coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China.
According to the Ministry of Unification, Thursday, liaison representatives from the two Koreas held a meeting earlier in the day and agreed on the suspension until the danger of the coronavirus is dissipated.
South Korean personnel currently on duty at the Gaeseong office were brought back to the South later in the day, a ministry official told reporters. Seventeen South Korean government officials and 41 support staff are now on site.
“The two Koreas have agreed to establish direct telephone and fax lines between Seoul and Pyongyang to continue the liaison work,” the official said.
This is the first time the liaison office has been closed due to an epidemic threat since it opened in September 2018. The ministry said the North requested the suspension.
“North Korea is taking unusual measures compared to when the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreaks occurred,” the official said. “The North Korean authorities have been strengthening preventive measures against the spread of the virus, setting up a national emergency quarantine system, and we understand the suspension of the office is a part of the system.”
While there has been no report of a confirmed case of the new coronavirus in North Korea, quarantine stations have been set up across the country, including border areas, airfields and ports, according to the North's ruling Workers' Party of Korea mouthpiece, the Rodong Sinmun.
The North also decided to quarantine all diplomatic missions and related workers arriving from China for a month, the Russian embassy in Pyongyang said Tuesday. Earlier in the month, the North Korean authorities suspended all tourism to the country from abroad, according to an NK News report citing a travel operator.