South Korea releases video showing destruction of cooperation office

South Korea’s government has released a military surveillance video showing clouds of smoke rising from the ground as a building thought to be a liaison office with North Korea collapsed, after Pyongyang said it had blown up the building.

South Korean military releases footage showing smoke coming from inter-Korean liaison office as North Korea reportedly blew up the building in a dramatic display of anger that sharply raises tensions on the Korean Peninsula. https://t.co/pNCu0s43AI pic.twitter.com/hwhAh13NSu

— ABC News (@ABC) June 16, 2020

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency says the nation destroyed the inter-Korean office in a “terrific explosion” because its “enraged people” were determined to “force (the) human scum and those, who have sheltered the scum, to pay dearly for their crimes,” apparently referring to North Korean defectors living in South Korea who for years have floated anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.

South Korea expressed “strong regret” over the destruction and warns of a stern response if North Korea takes additional steps that aggravate tensions.

The statement, issued following an emergency National Security Council meeting, says the demolition is “an act that betrays hopes for an improvement in South-North Korean relations and the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula.”

South Korea’s Defense Ministry separately says it closely monitors North Korean military activities and was prepared to strongly counter any future provocation.

The demolition of the building, which is located on North Korean territory and had no South Koreans working there, is largely symbolic. But it’s still the most provocative thing North Korea has done since it entered nuclear diplomacy in 2018 after a US-North Korean standoff had many fearing war. It will pose a serious setback to the efforts of liberal South Korean President Moon Jae-in to restore inter-Korean engagement.

— AP