This is Peace House in the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjeom, a facility that hosted the summit between both Koreas in April 2018. (Korea.net DB)

By Kang Gahui

Tours of Panmunjeom, the inter-Korean border village, will be resumed 18 months after being halted in 2023 due to escalating tension on the Korean Peninsula.

The Ministry of Unification on May 15 said, "The government will resume special tours of Panmunjeom, which were suspended due to considerations of public safety."

The tours are a civilian program designed and run by the ministry for "policy customers" or public officers.

The first tour group went on May 16 comprising 17 trainees (bureaucrats, section chief-level civil servants and heads of public companies) of a reunification policy leadership course of the National Institute for Unification Education.

"After thoroughly setting up safety measures for visitors and consulting with the United Nations Command in charge of Panmunjeom, we decided to partially resume the special tours," a ministry source said. "When the program is run stably without no special issues, we will also consider resuming general tours."

kgh89@korea.kr