No Human Exchanges Between North and South for 2 Years... Zero Vehicle Crossings

For the First Time Since 1989 Statistics, 'Complete Severance'
'Strong Confrontation' Continues... "Exchange Unlikely This Year"

Amid the ongoing stalemate between the South and the North, it has been found that there were no personnel exchanges between the two Koreas for the past two years. This year as well, with military tensions surrounding the Korean Peninsula expected to escalate, it is anticipated that the suspension of inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation will continue.

According to the Ministry of Unification's report on human and material exchanges between the South and the North on the 24th, the number of people crossing between the two Koreas recorded '0' for two consecutive years from 2021 to last year. It is the first time since related statistics began to be compiled in 1989 that there have been no individuals visiting the North or the South.

View of North Korea from Panmunjom Guard Post 3 [Image source=Yonhap News]

Transportation exchanges have also been cut off. Inter-Korean vehicle crossings, combining the Gyeongui Line and the Donghae Line land routes, numbered 312 in 2020, but in the past two years, not a single vehicle has crossed. Maritime crossings have not occurred for four consecutive years since 2019 following one case in 2018, and aircraft and railway crossings have also been absent for four years since 2018. On a one-way basis, there were 82 aircraft crossings and 6 railway crossings in 2018.

In 2018, when inter-Korean summits and North Korea-US summits were held, 7,498 people (6,689 visiting the North and 809 visiting the South) crossed between the two Koreas, and in 2019, 9,835 people (all visiting the North, none visiting the South) crossed. Even in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic spread in earnest, 613 people crossed between the two Koreas. However, most of these individuals were understood to be related to access to the Joint Liaison Office.

Although human exchanges are now completely severed, before the suspension of the Kaesong Industrial Complex in 2016, the number of people crossing between the South and the North exceeded 100,000 annually. In 2008, when exchanges were the most active since statistics began to be compiled, 186,775 people (186,443 visiting the North and 332 visiting the South) crossed between the two Koreas.

The interruption of inter-Korean exchanges is likely to continue this year as well, considering recent inter-Korean relations. The Korea Institute for National Unification stated in its 2023 Annual Outlook on the Korean Peninsula, "This year, inter-Korean relations may continue or worsen amid heightened political and military tensions and confrontations in a strong-versus-strong conflict," adding, "The suspension of inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation in economic, social-cultural, sports, religious, and civilian sectors, which are subordinate to political and military issues, will inevitably continue."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.