North Korea has blown up its joint liaison office with the South near the border town of Kaesong, South Korean officials say. Just $5 a month. The Inter-Korean Liaison Office (Korean: 남북공동연락사무소; Hanja: 南北共同連絡事務所; RR: Nambuk gongdong yeollak samuso) was a joint liaison office of North Korea and South Korea located in North Korea's Kaesong Industrial Region. Lee Seong-hyon, an analyst at the Sejong Institute, a research organization in South Korea, said the North’s economic frailty had been worsened by the coronavirus pandemic, which paralyzed its foreign trade. The destruction of the office was a message aimed at President Moon Jae-in of South Korea, who had brokered failed talks between the North and the Trump administration. Voices from the ground tell stories of mismanagement, neglect, and apathy. North Korea on Tuesday blew up a building where its officials and their South Korean counterparts had recently worked side by side. Labeling the West Papua National Army-Free Papua Organization a terrorist outfit complicates future conflict resolution efforts. After the last American soldier departs Afghanistan in September, India and Pakistan will be left with some very difficult, unsavory, choices. As the United States election nears, North Korea may ​switch to provocations ​more geared toward threatening Washington, like tests of submarine-launched ballistic missiles or even intercontinental ballistic missiles, said Sin Beom-chul, an analyst at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy in Seoul. By destroying the building in the North Korean city of Kaesong that housed the liaison office, which functioned as a de facto embassy, Mr. Kim … The demolition marks a stark reversal of inter-Korean progress that had begun in 2018. North Korea blows up liaison office in Kaesong used for talks with South. Mr. Trump’s own domestic troubles, punctuated by the pandemic’s heavy toll on the United States economy and by the civic ​unrest set off by the killing of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police, gave North Korea greater room to act as a destabilizer, analysts said. In March last year, it dismissed the South’s mediating role, calling Mr. Moon’s government “a player, not an arbiter” because it was an ally of Washington. According to a military source cited by multiple local media, an explosion was heard and smoke was seen rising from the Kaesong Industrial Complex, an inter-Korean factory park in Kaesong housing the liaison office. The period had raised hope for diplomacy that would lead to the dismantlement of the North’s nuclear arsenal or even a peace treaty with the United States, which technically remains at war with North Korea after nearly seven decades. For Mr. It was an extraordinary embarrassment for Mr. Kim, whose propagandists had built up expectations at home that he would achieve something monumental with the United States. The Korean joint liaison office in Kaesong opened to fanfare in 2018. Read full article. On that day, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung met Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong Il. Moon met in 2018, they promised to end such cross-border propaganda. Like many Asian countries, Seoul is having troubling sourcing vaccines. Moon. South Korean K-9 artillery performing a regular exercise drill near the demilitarized zone in Paju on Tuesday. But the relationship between Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump has soured. What is the Kaesong liaison office? A column of black smoke rising above the site was visible from the South […] “So, as Koreans like to say, ‘If you hate your neighbor, you kick his dog.’”. (Photo: AFP) The North accused Mr. Report, Trans-Pacific The inter-Korean liaison office in North Korea's border town of Kaesong, photographed long before its destruction. What follows, however, remains uncertain. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea. The inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong … SEOUL, South Korea — The North Korean warning aimed at South Korea has steadily been escalating in intensity for more than a year: Your matchmaking diplomacy between our leader and President Trump is failing. Southeast Money, Tokyo Get briefed on the story of the week, and developing stories to watch across the Asia-Pacific. ​In recent months, North Korea has sent numerous warnings to the South to change its tack. On Tuesday, the​ accumulated frustrations of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, who embarrassingly returned home empty-handed from his second summit meeting with Mr. Trump in February 2019, exploded in cathartic fashion. Both Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump relished the intense global attention paid to their extraordinary diplomacy; Mr. Trump appeared so taken with the North Korean leader, who is half his age, that he once said he and Mr. Kim “fell in love.”. Kim’s quick apology came as a surprise -- don't mistake it for sincerity. North Korea has blown up a joint liaison office with the South near the North's border town of Kaesong. What is the Kaesong liaison office? The demolition of the inter-Korean liaison office also came not long after the release of a statement by the Korean People’s Army General Staff announcing that North Korean troops would move into areas of the inter-Korean border that had been demilitarized as part of the implementation of the September 2018 inter-Korean Comprehensive Military Agreement. South Korea's Unification Ministry said the joint liaison office, a four-story concrete building located in the Kaesong Industrial Zone, was blown up at 2:49 p.m. Later Tuesday, North Korea's state-run media also reported that the office, one of the symbols of inter-Korean reconciliation, had been "completely ruined." Asia, Asia News North Korea destroys inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong. According to local news reports, after being ignored for months Washington finally got through to Pyongyang to explain U.S. policy. The liaison office had allowed person-to-person contact between the two Koreas and had raised hopes that it would eventually lead to the establishment of diplomatic missions in each other’s capital. It ​said Mr. South Korean authorities announced on Tuesday that the North Korean government had demolished the inter-Korean liaison office situated in the city of Kaesong, on the North Korean side of the border. When Mr. Kim and Mr. The North Korean side confirmed the demolition in a statement shortly after South Korea confirmed the event. The move comes just hours after the North renewed threats of military action at the Korean border. The trust vote was a long time in the making. Moon had forsaken agreements with Mr. Kim to push for inter-Korean economic ties the North badly wanted. Outbreaks and vaccine problems loom as Indonesian Muslims prepare for Eid al-Fitr festivities. Earlier this month, North Korea cut all communications with the South and warned that more provocative actions loomed. Moon, his promises were dependent on progress in negotiations between North Korea and the United States ​to end the North’s nuclear threat. North Korean state media reported that the four-story joint liaison building, which is located in the North Korean town of Kaesong, was "completely destroyed by … ​. In recent statements, Kim Yo Jong also threatened other non-specified actions that may involve the North Korean military. Power, Crossroads The opening of the liaison office in 2018 was part of a series of moves by the Koreas to reduce tensions during a global diplomatic push to resolve the nuclear stand-off with the North. In … The border town of Kaesong has for years been a symbol of the fragile relationship between North and South Korea. ​Behind the North’s deepening contempt toward the South ​was its frustration with the Trump administration, ​and the demolition of the liaison office ​on Tuesday was ​intended as a signal as much for Washington as for Seoul, analysts said. The site, which is in the North's territory, was opened in 2018 to help the two Koreas to communicate. In 2018, South Korean President Moon Jae-in met Kim Jong Un for three separate summit meetings: twice at the inter-Korean border and once in Pyongyang. The destruction of the Kaesong liaison office may be followed up with other North Korean actions. “North Korea has concluded that it can no longer expect anything from the Moon Jae-in government,” Mr. Cheong said​, referring to South Korea’s refusal to reopen the Kaesong and Diamond Mountain projects, which had been important sources of cash for Pyongyang. Asia, South North Korea has said it will no longer agree to summits that are seen as disproportionately benefiting the U.S. president. Mr. Kim found a recent justification to highlight ​what he considered ​South Korea’s failure to implement inter-Korean agreements and ​to ​start a new cycle of raising tensions when North Korean defectors in the South launched balloons ​that carried propaganda leaflets attacking Mr. Kim across the​ Demilitarized Zone that separates the Koreas. That blast effectively shattered a détente on the Korean Peninsula that​ had​ lasted ​two years. The liaison office was reopened and refurbished as part of that deal to help the two Koreas communicate, but its future had been thrown into … “Raising tensions with South Korea,” Mr. Shin said, “is part of Kim Jong-un’s bigger strategy​ of pressuring the United States​.”, ​North Korea’s Wrecking of Liaison Office a ‘Death Knell’ for Ties With the South, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/16/world/asia/north-korea-explosion-liaison-office.html. COVID-19, commerce, connectivity, and climate dominated the May 8 summit. With the blast, Mr. Kim wrecked one of the most concrete legacies of Mr. Moon’s friendly engagement with the autocratic North Korean leader, and signaled his exasperation with Mr. Trump’s approach as well. An interview with Gary Bauer, commissioner of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. “The relevant field of the DPRK put into practice the measure of completely destroying the North-South joint liaison office in the Kaesong Industrial Zone in the wake of cutting off all the communication liaison lines between the north and the south,” the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s outward-facing state media, said. The office was established in 2018 in the Kaesong Industrial Zone, just north of the Demilitarized Zone. Instead, he risked looking weak by returning empty-handed. Mr. Trump has repeatedly touted his personal rapport with Mr. Kim as one of his biggest foreign-policy achievements, saying that it ​helped ​avert war with North Korea. The border town of Kaesong has for years been a symbol of the fragile relationship between North and South Korea. “North Korea has just tolled the death knell ​for its relations with Moon Jae-in’s government,” he said. Rumors of the J-15's unreliability have been greatly exaggerated. North Korean state media reported that the four-story building, which is located in Kaesong City, on the North Korean side of the demilitarized zone that divides the two Koreas, was "completely destroyed by a" terrible explosion "at 2:50 pm local time. North Korea blows up liaison office in Kaesong used for talks with South By Joshua Berlinger, Jake Kwon and Yoonjung Seo, CNN Published Jun 16, 2020 6:03:19 PM North Korea has been ratcheting up tensions with the South in recent weeks and has threatened to … Defense, China View, About Mr. Moon’s government reacted with an uncharacteristically strong statement that recalled the worst days of North-South confrontation​​. Enjoying this article? The joint liaison office has been temporarily closed since January over the COVID-19 outbreak. The demolition of the Kaesong liaison office comes just one day after the 20th anniversary of the first-ever inter-Korean leaders’ summit on June 15, 2000. The move comes just hours after the North renewed threats of military action at … The inter-Korean liaison office in the North Korean border city of Kaesong was the two Koreas’ sole fixed communication office, established in September 2018 as a result of a series of inter-Korean summits that year. The North Korean military’s threat on Tuesday signaled that the North would start demolishing the South Korean-built facilities in Kaesong and Diamond Mountain and return the demilitarized areas back to its military, said Cheong Seong-chang, a senior North Korea specialist at the Sejong Institute. Expert Ankit Panda pieces together the puzzle of why Pyongyang destroyed the Kaesong liaison office South Korean authorities announced on Tuesday that the North Korean government had demolished the inter-Korean liaison office situated in the city of Kaesong, on the North Korean … Us, Write Asia, Southeast [NEWS1] The Kaesong Industrial Complex and the tourist zone on Mount Kumgang were the two linchpins of inter-Korean economic cooperation in the early 2000s, but both projects have been indefinitely shuttered after tensions flared between the Koreas over the past decade. But unlike its neighbors, South Korea has so far refused to turn to a ready supplier: China. Moon of having oversold the merits of diplomatic engagement with Mr. Trump. Pyongyang has blown up a joint liaison office in Kaesong, North Korea used for talks with the South, the latest sign that ties between the two longtime … Click here to subscribe for full access. © 2021 Diplomat Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. ... Georgia, on Thursday, Biden's 100th day in office. In 2003, it sprung to life as the site of an industrial zone – the Kaesong Industrial Complex – set up between the North and South. The increased reliance on undersea warfare means submarines need to run silent, deep, and safe in the Pacific. The demolition was a result of “the mindset of the enraged people to surely force human scum and those, who have sheltered the scum, to pay dearly for their crimes,” KCNA added. The border town of Kaesong has for years been a symbol of the fragile relationship between North and South Korea. South Korea says the North has now blown up the office. “At 14:50, the liaison office was tragically ruined with a terrific explosion,” it added. Asia, Pacific Blog Brand: Korea Watch Tags: North Korea South Korea Kaesong Military Technology North Korea's Demolition of the Kaesong Liaison Office Is a … Following that failure, North Korea vented its frustration principally on the matchmaker, Mr. North Korea's Demolition of the Kaesong Liaison Office Is a Sign of Desperation. On Wednesday, North Korea said it had dismissed Mr. Moon’s recent proposal to send special envoys to Pyongyang as “tactless and sinister.” Also on Wednesday, the North’s military said that it was seeking Mr. Kim’s approval to “resume all kinds of regular military exercises” near the disputed western sea border despite an earlier inter-Korean agreement to ban such drills. According to the South Korean Ministry of Unification, high explosives demolished the building at 2:49 p.m. local time. North Korea blew up a joint liaison office used for talks with South Korea, the latest sign of deteriorating relations between the two longtime adversaries. By destroying the building in the North Korean city of Kaesong that housed the liaison office, which functioned as a de facto embassy, Mr. Kim also acted on his repeated admonition that he was steering relations on the divided Korean Peninsula to a new phase, treating ​South Korea not as a partner for reconciliation but as an “enemy.”. Under agreements signed since 2000, when the leaders of both Koreas met for the first time, the North withdrew some frontier military units to make way for roads linking South Korea to Diamond Mountain — a resort destination in the North, which became the site of an experiment in inter-Korean tourism — and to Kaesong, where the two Koreas jointly operated an industrial park years before the liaison office opened. From left, Mr. Kim, President Moon Jae-in of South Korea and President Trump at the border between North and South Korea last year. When Pyongyang blew up the inter-Korean liaison office, hopes of a new era of reconciliation with Seoul went with it. Asia, Central By raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, some said, Mr. Kim was building the case for why Mr. Trump needed to provide him with at least a stopgap de-escalation deal — in the form of easing sanctions — if the American leader wished to avoid a total unraveling of his North Korea diplomacy before the November election. A North Korean border post within sight of Paju, South Korea. Moon and Mr. Trump has gone askew. North Korea had previously expressed frustration with what it saw as a lack of progress on inter-Korean economic cooperation, which has been limited by the continuous existence of international sanctions on the North Korean government for its pursuit of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. The demolition comes days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, issued a statement threatening to reduce the facility to “dust.” Kim cited recent anti-North Korean regime leaflet launches across the inter-Korean border by South Korean civil groups as a threat to the “dignity” of the North Korean supreme leadership. Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister, Kim Yo-jong, warned that Seoul would soon witness the collapse of a "useless" liaison office in the border town of Kaesong. “We make it clear that the North will be held accountable for all the repercussions of its act,” said Kim You-geun, deputy director of national security at Mr. Moon’s office. 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. “We issue a stern warning that if North Korea continues to aggravate the situation, we will take strong corresponding steps.”. June 16, 2020 Topic: Security Region: Asia. Explosion of Kaesong Liaison Office The taller Kaesong Industrial District Management Committee office building sits about 70 meters away. South Korean army surveillance footage shows the explosion of the inter-Korean liaison office in North Korea. North Korean authorities on Tuesday demolished an inter-Korean liaison office in the border city of Kaesong, South Korea's Ministry of Unification (MOU) and North Korean … for Us. The exchange between Pyongyang and Seoul signaled that the downward spiral in inter-Korean relations had become “irrevocable,” said Lee Byong-chul, a North Korea expert at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul. balloons ​that carried propaganda leaflets, Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. A large portion of its all-glass façade was heavily damaged by the explosion, although that damage was likely unintended. Japan is seeking to expand its military ties beyond its alliance with the United States to include "like-minded" countries such as France. With increasing COVID-19 deaths in India, hundreds of children are being traumatized and left in the lurch. Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump spent much of 2017 exchanging personal insults and threats of nuclear war, as the American leader warned of “fire and fury” in the aftermath of North Korea’s nuclear and long-range ballistic missile tests and Mr. Kim called Mr. Trump a “mentally deranged U.S. ​dotard.” Mr. Moon’s work to mediate bore fruit when Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump met in Singapore in 2018 in the first ever summit meeting between the two nations. India's current level of suffering was not inevitable. But it was also a message for Washington. It then temporarily withdrew its staff from the joint liaison office, which the two Koreas had run together since September 2018. The ​North blew up an inter-Korean joint liaison office created as a sign of good will toward President Moon Jae-in of South Korea, who had brokered and encouraged the meeting. Their second summit, held in Vietnam in February of 2019, collapsed without an agreement on how to eliminate the North’s nuclear arsenal and without a reprieve from international sanctions that Mr. Kim badly needed to rebuild his country’s economy. Its demolition was ​only the most dramatic​ in a series of indications of how the triangular relationship among Mr. Kim, Mr. Both the Kaesong and Diamond Mountain facilities have been idle for years, shut down amid tensions over the North’s nuclear weapons. Mr. Moon​ was relentless in trying to nurture the relationship, saying the two leaders were a once-in-a-lifetime pair to negotiate a history-making peace deal on the Korean Peninsula, where threats of renewed war and repeated cycles of tensions over the North’s nuclear weapons development make it one of the world’s most enduring flash points. The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library released a photo of the visit, and presidential historian Michael Bechloss posted it on social media Monday night. The liaison office in Kaesong has been closed since late January after the Koreas agreed to temporarily shut it until the coronavirus is controlled. The liaison office appears to have been empty when it was blown up. Kaesong, North Korea, in 2018, where the joint liaison office was demolished on Tuesday. On Tuesday, hours before the demolition of the liaison office, the North’s military threatened to redeploy troops previously withdrawn from areas near the South Korean border. What is the Kaesong liaison office? North Korea has blown up a joint liaison office used for talks between itself and South Korea, the latest sign that ties between the two longtime adversaries are rapidly deteriorating. “It had to vent its frustration and domestic discontent, but it feared retaliation if it directly provoked the United States,” Mr. Lee said. Last March, North Korea went so far as to say Mr. Moon’s office had an “imbecile way of thinking.”. The South Korean Unification Ministry has confirmed that an explosion took place at the inter-Korean office in the border town of Kaesong at 2:49 p.m. local time on Tuesday.