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The opening ceremony for the inter-Korean joint liaison office inside the Kaesong Industrial Complex on Sept. 14. (photo pool)

When South Korean reporters visited the Kaesong Industrial Complex yesterday for the first time in two years and seven months, the complex looked as if operations had just ended for the weekend, with the machines shut down temporarily. The hotels, gas stations, hospitals, convenience stores, and the buildings of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) and the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) looked the same as always. There was one new addition, however – on the side of the road, a sign that said, “Joint Liaison Office.”

The opening ceremony for the Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office, which puts the two sides in contact 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, was held on the morning of Sept. 14 inside the Kaesong Complex.

During the ceremony, South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon and Ri Son-gwon, chairman of North Korea’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country (CPRC), signed an agreement concerning the liaison office’s composition and operation. The South Korean half of the liaison office will be directed by Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung, with the North Korean half run by CPRC Vice Chair Jon Jong-su.

Thirty South Korean officials from the Unification Ministry and other related government institutions have been assigned to live and work at the office alongside 15 to 20 North Korean officials, with whom they can discuss all matters related to inter-Korean relations face to face, whenever necessary.

After the opening ceremony on Friday, Chun and Jon sat down to deliberate how the office will be run in the future. “The liaison office will do the work that’s necessary for implementing the measures agreed to in the summit,” Chun said. South and North Korea have agreed that the two directors will meet once a week, with the option of holding additional meetings when necessary.

“The Kaesong Industrial Complex will reopen for business before long, which will be a positive sign for inter-Korean economic cooperation,” said Shin Han-yong, chairman of the Corporate Association of Kaesong Industrial Complex, who attended the opening ceremony. Shin also noted that it was too bad the complex hadn’t been reopened during the ceremony, with the rest of the tenant company owners in attendance.

“Actually, the complex appears to be in fairly decent shape, at least viewed from the outside. What we heard from the North Koreans is that they’ve done work inside [the complex] such as draining water to minimize damage from bursting pipes in the winter. I feel relieved,” Shin said.

From the second story of the liaison office, the whole Kaesong Complex could be seen at a glance. “They’re just buildings, but this feels like a reunion of the divided families,” someone said as the ceremony attendees looked down at the complex with what seemed to be a mixture of emotions.

During his commemorative address on Friday, Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon described the liaison office as a “cradle of our nation’s joint prosperity” and expressed his hopes that experts and officials from South and North Korea would cooperate on roads, railways and forestry and carry out joint research on the “new economic plan” and on ways to implement the 2007 North–South Summit Declaration. Then during a celebratory speech about the opening of the liaison office, CPRC Chairman Ri Son-gwon said, “This makes it possible for us to quickly discuss issues that come up in inter-Korean relations and to devise the necessary measures.”

The opening ceremony began at 10:50 am and lasted for 20 minutes. A video showing progress on inter-Korean relations since this past January featured clips from the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, concerts by musicians from both South and North Korea and repairs and renovations of the liaison office.

When the video showed South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shaking hands during the inter-Korean summit on Apr. 27, the audience burst into applause. The sign above the entrance on the first floor of the office uses the North Korean spelling of “Joint Liaison Office,” while a sign to the right of the building displays the same name, written with the South Korean spelling.

By Noh Ji-won, staff reporter

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