North Korean officials return to inter-Korean liaison office days after US President Donald Trump’s decision not to impose new sanctions on Pyongyang

Days after US President Donald Trump opted not to impose extra sanctions on North Korea, Pyongyang has reversed a decision to pull its staff from an inter-Korean liaison office
The continued presence of North Koreans at the liaison office suggested Pyongyang’s satisfaction over Trump’s decision to hold off on more sanctions, said analysts

North Korea

Reuters

Published: 5:11pm, 25 Mar 2019

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Days after US President Donald Trump opted not to impose extra sanctions on North Korea, Pyongyang has reversed a decision to pull its entire staff from an inter-Korean liaison office.

North Korean officials on Monday returned to work at the office in the northern city of Kaesong, after the US on Thursday imposed the first new sanctions on Pyongyang since the collapse of the second Trump-Kim summit.

However, Trump on Friday said he ordered the withdrawal of new large-scale sanctions on North Korea, a move experts said could be an effort to defuse tensions or signalling that the “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign on Pyongyang was not going to get any stronger.

“It was announced today by the US Treasury that additional large scale Sanctions would be added to those already existing Sanctions on North Korea. I have today ordered the withdrawal of those additional Sanctions!” Trump said in a tweet.

A border checkpoint, south of the DMZ, in Paju. Photo: Yonhap

He appeared to be referring to measures unveiled on Thursday that targeted two Chinese companies accused of helping North Korea to evade tight international sanctions meant to pressure Pyongyang into ending its nuclear weapons programme.

The withdrawal of North Korean staff had been seen as a setback for South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s attempts to engage with Pyongyang. The liaison office was opened in September and had been one of the key developments made during the detente between North Korea and South Korea in the past year.

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Analysts reckoned the continued presence of North Koreans at the liaison office suggested Pyongyang’s satisfaction over Trump’s decision to hold off on the imposition of more sanctions.

They said the threatened withdrawal of staff appeared to have been calculated to pressure South Korea into persuading the US to soft-pedal on sanctions.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry said some of the North Korean staff were back at work on Monday saying they had come to cover their “shift as usual”.

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“Thus, the South and the North held consultations at the liaison office this morning and will continue to operate the office as usual,” the ministry said in a statement.

Some four or five North Korean officials came to work at the office on Monday, about half the usual level of staffing, and none of the more senior officials were among those who came to work, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.

The two sides held a consultation at the liaison office on Monday and would continue to operate the office as usual.

A convoy of dozens of South Korean officials had left for the liaison office earlier on Monday in a bid to maintain fragile gains in relations with Pyongyang.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

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