Koreas normalize consultation office in Kaesong park

SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- South and North Korea on Monday resumed operations at
a consultation office that oversees daily affairs at their joint industrial park
in the North, the government said.

Pyongyang in December had unilaterally shut down the Inter-Korean Exchange and
Cooperation Consultation Office at the complex located in its border town of
Kaesong and restricted traffic in and out of the park to protest Seoul's
hard-line policy toward it.
Officials at the Unification Ministry said that Yu Jong-ryeol, the office's
co-head, traveled with 12 other South Korean officials to Kaesong to work
alongside six North Korean counterparts at the office.
Last week, North Korea lifted the cross-border traffic restrictions, allowing
South Koreans to travel to and from the Kaesong park at levels set prior to the
restrictions. As of end of August, 112 small-sized South Korean firms were
operating at the park employing more than 40,000 North Koreans.
The office primarily handles administrative affairs for the South Korean
companies operating at the industrial park. Paperwork pertaining to the Kaesong
park had been exchanged through Chinese officials when the office was shut down.
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