North Korea has withdrawn its personnel from the inter-Korean joint liaison office at the now-shuttered Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), South Korean Vice Minister of Unification Chun Hae-sung announced on Friday.

Speaking at a special news briefing, Chun said Pyongyang had this morning notified the South that it would “withdraw [staff] in accordance with the direction of the superior authority.”

“The government regrets the North’s decision to pull out,” the vice unification minister told assembled media. “We hope that the inter-Korean joint liaison office will be normally operated, as agreed to between the two Koreas, when the North returns at