SEOUL — North Korea blew up the joint liaison office in the border city of Kaesong used for bettering ties with South Korea after days of rising tensions on June 16.<br /><br />South Korea's Ministry of Unification has confirmed the story with a statement registering its "deep regret" and protest over the North's action.<br /><br />According to the BBC, the joint liaison office was established in 2018 to improve communications, though industrial cooperation in Kaesong was already halted by 2016. <br /><br />The Guardian reports South Korea evacuated the liaison staff in January due to the coronavirus pandemic.<br /><br />North Korea issued a statement saying, "We have exploded the eye-sore north-south joint liaison office," adding that "there are [sic] nothing to be implemented and no future for the north-south relations."<br /><br />North Korea leader Kim Jung-un's sister Kim Yo-jong has been making threats to demolish the liaison office.<br /><br />The BBC reports that during Kim Jung-un's absence in April, several observers speculated that Kim Yo-jong could become his successor.<br /><br />North Korea's cited reason for destroying the site was that defectors have ballooned propaganda leaflets over from the South.
