DPRK says inter-Korean economic negotiation office in Kaesong will be reopened: Yonhap

SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said Thursday the inter-Korean economic negotiation office in Kaesong will be reopened, according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap.

DPRK also said it will resume inter-Korean railroad operations.

According to Yonhap, DPRK sent a note to the South Korean Unification Ministry on Thursday, saying that South Korean workers' border trips and cargo train service "will be restored to the way they were" before the December 1 measure, as of Aug. 21.

In the so-called "December 1 Measure," DPRK restricted the number of times South Korean workers could travel to a joint industrial park in its border town of Kaesong in protesting the Lee Myung-bak government's conservative stance.

It also cut off train cargo service, which was reconnected in 2007, to transport materials to the joint park.

Such restrictions strained business activity at the Kaesong park, where more than 100 South Korean firms operate with about 40,000 workers from DPRK.

The joint park opened in 2004 as an outcome of the historic first inter-Korean summit between then President Kim Dae-jung and DPRK leader Kim Jong-il in 2000.

Thursday's announcement is the latest conciliatory gesture from Pyongyang.

It invited Hyun Jeong-eun, chairwoman of Hyundai Group, last week and released a Hyundai employee who had been detained there since March for criticizing its political system.

DPRK leader Kim Jong-il also agreed with Hyun to resume joint tourism ventures and improve cross-border relations.