WAR ZONE
South Korea masses tanks on North Korea border and warns it will ‘respond strongly’ after Kim blew up government office
SOUTH Korean tanks are massed at the border as North Korea blew up a symbolic liaison office in a dramatic stunt.
Pyongyang confirmed it had "completely ruined" the empty facility in the border town of Kaesong and has cut all communication with Seoul.
9
9
9
North Korea has made several threats against South Korea in recent days, and had brazenly threatened to destroy the office set up in 2018.
Pictures show South Korean forces patrolling the highly fortified border with its nearest neighbour, as howitzers also massed nearby as part of a routine drill.
South Korea's government held an emergency meeting of the presidential Blue House and the National Security Council after the destruction of the office.
Kim You-geun, deputy director of the national security office, said: "The government expresses strong regret over North Korea's unilateral detonation of the inter-Korean liaison office building.
"We sternly warn that we will strongly respond to it if North Korea takes any action that further worsens the situation."
He added the building's demolition is a "betrayal" of all those who have sought peace on the Korean Peninsula.
"We make it clear that the responsibility for anything that could happen because of the act lies entirely with the North Korean side," he said.
Kim's state media also previously threatened to move its military into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) along the border with the South. .
Kim Jong-un's sister Kim Yo-Jong appears to be the driving force behind the office's high profile destruction as she blasted Seoul.
She has enjoyed a meteoric rise to power over the past two years and is now considered by many to be Kim's de-facto number two and successor.
Yo-jong warned it is the "people's demand" that South Korea "pay the price" for its "crimes".
In a statement via state media, North Korea said "the liaison office was tragically ruined with a terrific explosion" and slammed its neighbour for "sheltering scum" - referring to defectors in the South.
9
Seoul had spent $8.6million (£6.8million) refurbishing the joint liaison office amid a wave of peace talks two years ago.
The facility helped the two sides communicate, with both North and South Korea remaining technically at war since 1950.
The two Koreas were officially divided in 1948, before the Soviet Union-backed North invaded the US-backed South just two years later.
A bloody conflict was waged - almost acting as a proxy for the Cold War - before being ended with an armistice in 1953.
Relations were then deadlocked for more than 60 years, with numerous spats and clashes - until overtures were finally made to try and seek peace in 2018.
9
Who is Kim's sister Kim Yo-jong?
KIM Yo-jong is one of the most powerful people in North Korea and is seen by some as the successor to her brother Kim Jong-un.
She was born in September 1987, the daughter of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il.
Yo-jong is said to have had a close relationship with brother from an early age - with both studying in Switzerland.
Kim is married to Choe Song, the son of top North Korean military official and politician Choe Ryong-hae, and has at least one child born in May 2015.
In 2018, she represented North Korea and her brother at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
In early April 2020, she was reinstated to the party’s powerful politburo after a falling out with her brother over his failed summit with Donald Trump in 2019.
She has had a remarkable return to favour after falling out of grace - and is now regularly seen alongside Kim.
Many tipped her as a possible new leader during Kim's health scare in May.
She is now thought to be the mastermind behind Kim’s public image, both at home and abroad.
In March, she made her first public statement, condemning South Korea as a “frightened dog barking”.
And now she is believed to have orchestrated the destruction of the liaison office in Kaesong.
9
The liaison office was set up following landmark talks between Kim and South Korea's president Moon Jae-in.
Renewed hostilities come amid a row over activist groups sending anti-North Korean propaganda over the border from the South.
North Korea defectors had been flying balloons containing leaflets, cash, USB drives and SD cards into the rogue state.
Groups had vowed for further launches over the coming weeks, defying government warnings of that they would punish the activists.
North Korea had warned that "plans for retaliation" were underway - and identified the liaison office as its first target before blowing it up at 2.50pm local time.
Surveillance video released by the South Korean military shows a huge explosion ripping through the complex.
9
9
The two countries reached a tentative peace deal during talks in 2018, but the North is now thought to be applying pressure in the hope of securing relief from crippling international economic sanctions.
North Korea had marched towards nuclear weapons, but a charm offensive in 2018 with the South and the US saw it step back from the brink of war.
Talks have since stalled and Pyongyang seems to be taking a more aggressive stance to get what it wants from Seoul and the West.
The General Staff of the Korean People's Army, the armed forces of North Korea, laid out the threats to move into the DMZ in state media.
MOST READ IN NEWS
The DMZ is a strip around 2.5 miles wide that runs across the entire width of the Korean Peninsula, separating the North and South.
The move follows a decision by the North last week to stop contact with the South and sever hotlines between the countries' political and military leaders.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
On Monday, South Korean president Moon Jae-in has called on the North to cease the escalation of tensions.
“We must not push back the pledges of peace that Chairman Kim Jong Un and I made," he said in comments released by his office.
9
South Korea says it will sternly respond if North Korea continues to raise tensions
Topics