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North Korea has blown up a joint liaison office with the South near the North’s border town of Kaesong.
The move comes just hours after the North renewed threats of military action at the Korean border.
The site was opened in 2018 to help the Koreas – officially in a state of war – to communicate. It had been empty since January due to Covid-19 restrictions.
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.”Media captionSouth Korean activists launch propaganda balloons over border (2014 video)
Tensions between North and South Korea have been escalating for weeks, prompted by defector groups in the South sending propaganda across the border.
The North Korean leader’s sister, Kim Yo-jong – considered a close and powerful ally – threatened at the weekend to demolish the office.
Her brother, Kim Jong-un, has ruled North Korea as Supreme Leader since 2011.
There were hopes for improved relations between the North and the South and its close ally the United States after Donald Trump met Mr Kim at the North-South border last June, but nothing materialised and the atmosphere has since deteriorated.
North Korea is under crippling US and UN economic sanctions over its militarised nuclear programme. Washington has not yet commented on the North’s latest action.
Analysts say Pyongyang may be seeking to create a crisis to increase its leverage as nuclear negotiations with the US are at a standstill.
Balloons and drones
South Korea’s Unification Ministry in Seoul said there was an explosion at the liaison office at 14:49 local time (05:49 GMT).
North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), using characteristically colourful language, said the destruction of the building reflected “the mindset of the enraged people to surely force human scum and those, who have sheltered the scum, to pay dearly for their crimes”.
In recent weeks, North Korea has repeatedly condemned the South for allowing propaganda into its territory.
Defector groups regularly send such material via balloons, or even drones, into the North.
Last Tuesday, Pyongyang announced it was severing all official communication links with Seoul, and over the weekend Kim Yo-jong threatened to send troops into the demilitarised zone (DMZ) at the inter-Korean border.
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- South Korea plans to stop balloons to North Korea
- North Korea threatens to send army into demilitarised border zone
“North Korea’s violent destruction of the liaison office at Kaesong is a symbolic blow to inter-Korean reconciliation and co-operation,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.
“It’s hard to see how such behaviour will help the Kim regime get what it wants from the world, but clearly such images will be used for domestic propaganda.”
North and South Korea are technically still at war because no peace agreement was reached when the Korean War ended in 1953.
What is the Kaesong liaison office?
The border town of Kaesong has for years been a symbol of the fragile relationship between North and South Korea.
In 2003, it sprung to life as the site of an industrial zone – the Kaesong Industrial Complex – which was set up between the North and South.Image captionThe office was opened with great fanfare in September 2018
At its peak, it saw more than 120 factories, employing more than 50,000 North Koreans and hundreds of managers from the South.
But in 2016 it was shut down after political tensions reached a head – bringing to a halt a symbol of co-operation.
So, in 2018, it looked like things were back on track when both Koreas agreed to set up an inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong.
It allowed officials from the North and South to communicate on a regular basis for the first time since the Korean War, and was meant to be staffed by up to 20 people from each side.
But in March 2019, North Korea announced that it was withdrawing from the office – following a failed summit between the US and North Korea.
Who is Kim Yo-jong?
Image captionKim Yo-jong, sister of the North Korean leader, has an increasingly public profile
In recent years the younger sister of Kim Jong-un has emerged as his close and powerful ally.
From 2014, Kim Yo-jong’s main job was to protect her brother’s image, taking up a key role in the party’s propaganda department.
When, in 2017, she was elevated to an alternate member of the politburo, it seemed to indicate a shift in seniority – although her main role remained in propaganda.
In 2018, she shot into the international spotlight when, at the Winter Olympics, she became the first member of the Kim family to visit South Korea.
Her continued rise shows she has gained the deep trust of her brother, and when Mr Kim’s disappearance in April prompted questions about his health, she was touted as a possible successor.
In recent weeks, she has been responsible for delivering several strongly-worded messages against the South – and has emerged as North Korea’s new point-person on inter-Korean affairs, according to specialist site NK News.
However, North Korea’s power mechanisms are notoriously difficult to understand.
It’s therefore hard to gauge how much power – or how much of her own political network – the 32-year-old might have.
bbc