North Korea was dismantling a facility at its Mount Kumgang resort used for hosting meetings between families separated after the Korean war, South Korea said on Thursday, in the latest sign of strained tensions between the two Koreas.
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Seoul’s unification ministry, which handles affairs between the two Koreas, urged in a statement North Korea to immediately stop the action at the site near the border.
The demolition of the facility was an “anti-humanitarian act that tramples on the wishes of separated families”, the ministry said, adding that it would consider legal measures over the action and a joint response with the international community.
North Korea has been escalating its rhetoric against its southern neighbour in recent years, designating South Korea as a “hostile state”.
Pyongyang also blew up sections of inter-Korean roads and rail lines on its side of the heavily fortified border last year, which prompted South Korea’s military to fire warning shots at the time.
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Emotional gatherings as divided Koreans meet after 60 years
Emotional gatherings as divided Koreans meet after 60 years
In 2023, Pyongyang scrapped a 2018 military accord designed to curb the risk of inadvertent clashes between two countries that remain technically at war, prompting the South to take a similar step.