North Korea destroyed the South Liaison Office in Kaesong, a town near the border on Tuesday, the Unification Ministry said in Seoul several days after outrageous comments from Pyongyang.
An explosion
"North Korea blew up the Kaesong liaison office at 2:49 p.m." (6:49 GMT), the spokesman for the ministry in charge of relations between the two Koreas announced in a line statement to the press. The announcement came just minutes after the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported a heard explosion and seen smoke rising from a joint industrial complex that houses the cross-border liaison office. This destruction comes after threats made this weekend by Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
A tense context between the two Koreas
"In a short time, the useless liaison office between the North and the South will be completely destroyed during a tragic scene," she warned. Since the beginning of the month, Pyongyang has multiplied vitriolic attacks against its neighbor, in particular against North Korean defectors who, from the South, send propaganda leaflets to the North beyond the Demilitarized Zone. And last week, the North Korean regime announced the closure of its political and military communication channels with the South Korean "enemy".
Pyongyang to seek crisis with Seoul
The leaflets, which are often hung on balloons that fly to North Korean territory, or inserted in bottles thrown into the border river, generally contain criticisms of Kim Jong Un's balance sheet in terms of human rights. Man, or his nuclear ambitions. Some experts believe that Pyongyang seeks to provoke a crisis with Seoul at the time when the nuclear negotiations with Washington are stopped.
The Korean War (1950-1953) was punctuated by an armistice, not by a peace agreement, which means that the two neighbors are technically still in a state of war.