A joint inter-Korean liaison office in the North Korean border city of Kaesong will be temporarily closed due to the outbreak of a new, deadly coronavirus in China, an official of South Korea's Unification Ministry said Thursday.
The official said South Korean officials manning the office will return as soon as possible, adding that the office closure will continue until the outbreak dies down completely.
"The South and North agreed to keep in contact with each other by installing separate phone and fax lines between Seoul and Pyongyang," the official added.
(Photo taken on Sept. 14, 2018, shows the opening ceremony for the inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong, North Korea.)
North Korea has taken emergency measures akin to border closure in a bid to stop the virus from spreading to the country. Earlier this month, its authorities blocked all people from entering from China unless they have special reasons, according to sources close to the matter.
The liaison office opened in September 2018, after the leaders of the two Koreas agreed to establish it at a summit in April that year.
South Korea has so far reported four cases of infection with the new coronavirus. It plans to evacuate hundreds of its citizens on chartered planes this week from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.
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