17 June,2020 07:20 AM IST | Seoul | Agencies
Smoke rise from the blown up liaison office on Tuesday
North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office building just north of the heavily armed border with South Korea on Tuesday in a carefully choreographed display of anger that sharply raises tensions on the Korean Peninsula and puts pressure on Washington and Seoul amid deadlocked nuclear diplomacy.
The demolition of the building, which is located on North Korean territory and had no South Koreans working there, is largely symbolic. But it's still the most provocative thing North Korea has done since it entered nuclear diplomacy in 2018 after a US-North Korean standoff had many fearing war. It will pose a serious setback to the efforts of liberal South Korean President Moon Jae-in to restore inter-Korean engagement.
Kim Jong-Un. Pics/AFP
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said the nation destroyed the office in a "terrific explosion" because its "enraged people" were determined to "force (the) human scum and those, who have sheltered the scum, to pay dearly for their crimes," apparently referring to North Korean defectors living in South Korea who for years have floated anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.
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The agency did not detail how the office in the border town of Kaesong was destroyed. South Korea expressed "strong regret" over the destruction and warned of a stern response if North Korea takes additional steps that aggravate tensions.
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