North Korea is demolishing a South Korea-built property that had been used to host reunions of families separated during the 1950-53 Korean War, the South’s government said on Thursday.
Relations between the two neighbours are at their worst in years, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continuing to flaunt his expanding nuclear weapons programme and declaring to abandon long-standing goals of inter-Korean reconciliation while describing the South as a permanent enemy.
The 12-storey building at the North’s scenic Diamond Mountain resort, which has 206 rooms and banquet facilities for hosting meetings, has been used for family reunions since 2009.
The Koreas last held a family reunion in 2018, after Mr Kim initiated diplomacy with Seoul and Washington in an effort to leverage his nuclear programme for economic benefits.
Negotiations derailed in 2019 after a failed summit between Nr Kim and US President Donald Trump, who was serving his first term, when the Americans rejected North Korea’s demands for a major release of US-led economic sanctions in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities.
The North has since suspended virtually all diplomatic activity with the South and ignored US requests to resume talks while accelerating the development of nuclear weapons and missiles.
Seoul’s Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said it had confirmed that North Korea was demolishing the building, named the Reunion Centre for the Separated Families, and urged the North to suspend the destruction.
The North had previously removed a South Korean-built hotel, golf course and other tourist facilities from the Diamond Mountain resort.
“Demolishing the reunion centre is an act against humanity that crushes the yearning of separated families, as well as a grave infringement of our state-owned property,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said the South’s government will consider “necessary” countermeasures, including legal action and international pressure, but it isn’t clear whether Seoul has any effective options.
