North Korean officials back at liaison office

SEOUL, Mar 25 (AP): South Korea said some North Korean officials returned to an inter-Korean liaison office on Monday, three days after the North abruptly withdrew its entire staff citing unspecified instructions from "higher-level authorities."

It wasn't immediately clear why North Korea sent some workers back to the office or whether it would restore a full staff.

The North's decision to withdraw its staff on Friday came a week after its vice foreign minister threatened to pull out of nuclear negotiations with the United States following the collapse of a nuclear summit last month between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump in Vietnam.

Seoul's Unification Ministry, which deals with inter-Korean affairs, said in a statement that four to five North Korean officials showed up for work Monday at the liaison office in the North Korean border town of Kaesong and told South Korean officials they came to work their usual shifts.

The ministry said the North had still not provided a clear explanation as to why it withdrew staff from the office.