SEOUL (REUTERS, AFP) – North Korea appears to have blown up an inter-Korean liaison office located in its border city of Kaesong, the South’s Yonhap news agency said on Tuesday (June 16), citing a South Korean military source. 

North Korea has made several threats against South Korea in recent days, and had threatened to destroy the office set up in 2018. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, Ms Kim Yo Jong, had said during the weekend that the joint industrial complex where the liaison office is housed would soon be seen “completely collapsed”. Ms Kim serves as a senior official of the ruling Workers’ Party. 

An explosion was heard and smoke seen rising near the complex, Yonhap reported, citing unspecified sources. 

North Korean state media KCNA had said earlier in the day that Pyongyang’s army is ready to take action if defector groups push ahead with their campaign to send propaganda leaflets into the country, in the latest warning of retaliatory measures. 

The General Staff of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) said it has been studying an “action plan” to re-enter zones that had been demilitarised under an inter-Korean pact and “turn the front line into a fortress”. 

“Our army will rapidly and thoroughly implement any decisions and orders of the Party and government,” the KPA said in a statement carried by KCNA. 

Tensions have risen in recent days as Pyongyang threatened to sever inter-Korean ties and take retaliatory measures over the leaflets, which carry messages critical of its leader including human rights abuses. 

Several defector-led groups have regularly sent back flyers, together with food, $1 bills, mini radios and USB sticks containing South Korean dramas and news, usually by balloon over the heavily fortified border or in bottles by river. 

On Saturday, Ms Kim said she had ordered the military to prepare for their next action. 

South Korea took legal action against two of the defector groups, saying they fuel cross-border tensions, pose risks to residents living near the border and cause environmental damage. 

But the groups say they intend to push ahead with their planned campaign this week. 

South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in urged Pyongyang on Monday to keep peace agreements reached by the two leaders and return to dialogue. 

Source: Read Full Article