EAST ASIA: 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.
North Korean state media reported that the four-story building, which is located in the town of Kaesong on the North Korean side of the demilitarized zone that divides the two Koreas, was "completely destroyed by a "terrific explosion" at 2:50 p.m. local time.
A plume of black smoke rising above the site was visible from the South Korean side of the border shortly after.
North Korea framed its decision to destroy the liaison office as a retaliatory measure after a group of defectors used balloons to send anti-North Korean leaflets north of the DMZ.
Smoke rises from Kaesong in this picture taken from Paju, South Korea.
"The recent foolish act of daring hurt the dignity of our supreme leadership," a statement carried in KCNA Tuesday read.
"The world will clearly see what severe punishment our people will mete out to the South Korean authorities and how they wipe the human scum off the earth."
North Korea claimed the leaflets violated the deal Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in struck in 2018 at their first summit, when both leaders agreed to cease "all hostile acts and eliminating their means, including broadcasting through loudspeakers and distribution of leaflets" along their shared border. It's illegal for average North Koreans to consume information that is not approved by the country's powerful propaganda machine, and doing so can carry dire consequences.
An official at South Korea's Presidential Blue House called the decision to blow up the liaison office "an act of betrayal of the expectations of all who wish for the improvement of the inter-Korean relations and settlement of peace on the Korean Peninsula." The South Korean Defense Ministry said it was monitoring North Korea's armed forces and would "strongly" respond to any military provocations.
Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un's sister and perhaps the second most powerful person in the country, demanded the South Korean government punish the defectors, whom she called "betrayers," "human scum" and "riff-raff who dared hurt the absolute prestige of our Supreme Leader representing our country and its great dignity," according to a statement carried by North Korean state news agency KCNA on Saturday.
Kim also hinted in that statement that the North Korean liaison office would be destroyed in some manner.
"Before long, a tragic scene of the useless North-South joint liaison office completely collapsed would be seen," she said per the Saturday statement.
Experts say that the leaflets likely angered North Korea's political leadership. But leading into Tuesday, some analysts had also speculated that North Korea was using the issue to manufacture a crisis -- a tactic Pyongyang has previously used to create a sense of urgency in negotiations or to sow discord between the United States and South Korea.