South Korea’s so-called “May 24” Measures should no longer be viewed as a barrier to inter-Korean cooperation, a spokesperson for the country’s Ministry of Unification (MOU) said on Wednesday, referring to a body of unilateral sanctions Seoul imposed against North Korea in 2010.

But the remarks, unexpectedly released by the ministry amid an ongoing lull in inter-Korean cooperation, do not constitute an official end to the ROK’s unilateral sanctions regime, NK News has confirmed.

“Previous governments have allowed ‘flexibility’ and ‘exemption measures’ (of the May 24 Measures),” spokesperson Yoh Sang-key told local reporters on Wednesday. “A large part of the