Despite the weekend visit of high-ranking Northern officials, South Korea’s sanctions on the North will remain in place until the North takes “a responsible step,” the Ministry of Unification said Monday.

Hwang Pyong So, who observers consider the second highest-ranking official in the North at present, led a delegation to the South over the weekend, marking the end of the Incheon Asian Games in Seoul. While in the South, the Northern delegation accepted a proposal for a new round of inter-Korean negotiations to take place between late October and early November.

This, along with the mysterious public absenceof North