North Korea Bombs Liaison Office Used For Talks With South Korea
According to Breaking reports, North Korea has blown up its office that was set up to foster better ties with South Korea.
CNN reports that the country admitted Tuesday to bombing an inter-Korean liaison office building just north of the border with South Korea as tensions escalate on the Korean Peninsula. Apparently, NK has also threatened further retaliation.
“We confirm that NK demolished the inter-Korean liaison office in Gaesong Industrial Complex by bombing at 14:49 KST (01:49 ET),” a spokesperson said. North Korea’s state news agency KCNA even said the liaison office in the border town of Kaesong, which had been closed since January due to the coronavirus, was “completely ruined”.
According to BBC, in a statement, South Korea warned it would “respond strongly” if the North “continues to worsen the situation”. The destruction of the office, it said, “abandons the hopes of everyone who wanted the development of inter-Korean relations and peace settlement in the Korean Peninsula”. “The government makes it clear that all responsibility of this situation lies in the North.”
As the news site notes, tensions between North and South Korea have been escalating for a number of weeks, prompted by defector groups in the South sending propaganda across the border.
For a small moment, there were hopes for improved relations between the North and the South and the US after Donald Trump met Mr. Kim at the North-South border last June. However, nothing materialized and the atmosphere has since deteriorated, BBC notes.
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