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A Korean Central TV broadcast announcing the North Korean army’s plans to reoccupy the Kaesong Industrial Complex and DMZ guard posts on June 16. (Yonhap News)

North Korea blew up the Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office in Kaesong on the afternoon of June 16. On June 13, Kim Yo-jong, deputy director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), threatened that “before long, a tragic scene of the useless North-South joint liaison office completely collapsed would be seen.” She followed through on that threat three days later.

Thus, the liaison office, which was a symbol of constant inter-Korean communication, was destroyed just 21 months after it was opened in keeping with a promise made in the inter-Korean summit on Apr. 27, 2018. This is a truly shocking and regrettable development.

Images of the demolition of the Joint Liaison Office in Kaesong published by the Rodong Sinmun on June 17. (Rodong Sinmun)

The joint liaison office was built with 17.7 billion won (US$14.5 million) of South Korean taxpayers’ money, and no rationale could justify North Korea demolishing it arbitrarily, without even discussing the matter. The liaison office was not the only thing that came down on Tuesday. The demolition also gravely damaged trust in the North Korean government and is sure to harden the views of South Koreans who have made every effort to understand North Korea’s plight.

With this demolition, North Korea shows that it meant business when it promised to switch to an adversarial approach in its dealings with the South. Exploding the liaison office (and inter-Korean agreements along with it) cements a negative impression in the international community that agreements with North Korea aren’t credible. This was a strategic error that damages not only inter-Korean relations but also the North’s credibility abroad.

On Tuesday morning, prior to the demolition, the North Korean army’s general staff announced that it would refortify areas that had been demilitarized according to inter-Korean agreements and would take action against balloons filled with propaganda leaflets launched over the border. The North is expected to rebuild guard posts in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that it tore down in a trial withdrawal program according to the Sept. 19 Comprehensive Military Agreement.

Smoke envelopes the city of Kaesong, where North Korea blew up the Joint Liaison Office on June 16, as seen from Paju, Gyeonggi Province. (Yonhap News)

There are also growing concerns that North Korea will permanently close the Kaesong Industrial Complex and redeploy a military unit that it had withdrawn to the north at the time of the complex’s construction. Another possibility is the demolition of tourism facilities at the Mt. Kumgang resort and the deployment of troops there. Refortifying those areas would put inter-Korean relations at risk of regressing to the time before the first inter-Korean summit in June 2000.

North Korea appears to be pressuring South Korea in the hope of reversing its fortunes. North Korea’s talks with the US have gotten nowhere since the summit in Hanoi last year concluded without a deal. North Korea is also frustrated with the South for failing to make much progress on inter-Korean cooperation because of its deference to the US. But we can’t help asking who exactly stands to gain from reversing the progress that South and North Korea have made on their path to peace and prosperity and the gradual erosion of the Cold War alignment on the Korean Peninsula.

If North Korea scraps the Sept. 19 Comprehensive Military Agreement as Kim Yo-jong has promised, it could spark a situation that’s beyond our control. North Korea must immediately halt further measures that raise military tensions. After convening the standing committee of the National Security Council on Tuesday, the Blue House expressed its disappointment, noting that North Korea’s actions had “betrayed the hopes of all who want the development of inter-Korean relations and the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula” and warning that it would “respond firmly if the North Koreans take measures that further worsen the situation.”

North Korea mustn’t take such warnings lightly. The South Korean government needs to mobilize all available measures. This is a challenging situation, but the time has come for the South and North Korean authorities to exert all their efforts in finding a solution through dialogue, with the awareness that history will hold them to account.

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]