North Korea blows up liaison office with South

North Korea blew up an office set up to foster better ties with South Korea in its border town of Kaesong yesterday after it threatened to take action if North Korean defectors went ahead with a campaign to send propaganda leaflets into the North.

North Korea's KCNA state news said the liaison office, which had been closed since January over fears of the novel coronavirus, was "tragically ruined with a terrific explosion".

South Korea also said the office had been blown up. Its media reported that an explosion was heard and smoke could be seen rising over Kaesong.

The office, when it was operating, served as an embassy for both of the old rivals and its destruction represents a major set-back for efforts by South Korea's President Moon Jae-in to coax the North into cooperation.

Tension has been rising over recent days with North Korea threatening to cut ties with South Korea and retaliate over the propaganda leaflets, which carry messages critical of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, including on human rights.

KCNA said the office was blown up to force "human scum and those, who have sheltered the scum, to pay dearly for their crimes". North Korea refers to defectors as "human scum".

A South Korean military source told Reuters that there had been signs North Korea was going ahead with the demolition earlier in the day, and South Korean military officials watched live surveillance imagery as the building was blown up.

The first diplomatic mission of its kind, the inter-Korean liaison office was established in 2018 as part of a series of projects aimed at reducing tensions between the two Koreas.

Earlier yesterday, North Korean state media quoted the military as saying it has been studying an "action plan" to re-enter zones that had been demilitarized under a 2018 inter-Korean pact and "turn the front line into a fortress".

South Korea's defence ministry called for North Korea to abide by the 2018 agreement, under which both sides' militaries vowed to cease "all hostile acts" and they dismantled a number of structures along the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone between the two countries.

South Korea's President Moon urged North Korea on Monday to keep peace agreements reached by the two leaders and return to dialogue.