New vice unification minister visits inter-Korean liaison office for 1st time

SEOUL, June 14 (Yonhap) -- Vice Unification Minister Suh Ho visited the inter-Korean liaison office in North Korea's border town of Kaesong on Friday for the first time since his appointment.

Suh was appointed last week as the South Korean chief of the office. He replaced Chun Hae-sung last month as vice unification minister, who also serves as Seoul's liaison office chief.

Suh crossed the western land border into the North earlier in the day. He plans to stay there until the afternoon to meet South Korean staff and figure out the overall operation of the office, according to the unification ministry.

A weekly meeting of co-heads, however, will not be held Friday as North Korea earlier informed Seoul that his North Korean counterpart, Jon Jong-su, will not travel to Kaesong.

The two Koreas launched the office in September and agreed to hold a meeting of its co-heads -- one from each side -- every week.

The meeting, however, has not been held since the collapse of the Hanoi summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump in February.

Seoul has said that despite the absence of such weekly meetings, there is no problem in communication via the liaison office since its officials are in contact with the North Korean staff on a daily basis.

A senior government official earlier told reporters on condition of anonymity that Seoul is considering proposing to North Korea that the two sides hold a meeting of their liaison office chiefs only when they agree to it, rather than sticking to the current weekly basis.

kokobj@yna.co.kr
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