North Korea: "Inter-Korean Liaison Office Tragically Destroyed with Loud Explosions" (Comprehensive)

Official Confirmation of North Korean State Media Explosion
"Measure Responding to the Enraged Public Sentiment"

On the 7th, North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un held the 13th Political Bureau meeting of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers' Party to discuss measures for developing a self-reliant economy and improving the people's living standards, the Rodong Sinmun reported on the 8th.

North Korea officially confirmed on the 16th that the Kaesong Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office was blown up.

North Korea's state media, Korean Central News Agency, reported on the same day, "At 14:50 on the 16th, with a loud explosion, the Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office was miserably destroyed."

The agency stated, "In response to the enraged public sentiment demanding that the garbage and those who condoned them be punished, after cutting off all communication lines between the North and South, our relevant departments took measures to completely destroy the Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office located in the Kaesong Industrial Complex."

The Ministry of Unification had earlier announced, "North Korea blew up the Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office building in Kaesong at 14:49."

North Korea blew up the Kaesong Joint Liaison Office building at 2:49 p.m. on the 15th.
The photo shows the Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office as of September 2018.

On the same day, smoke was also observed along with the sound of an explosion in the area where the Kaesong Industrial Complex is located on the South Korean side. A resident of Daeseong-dong village in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, said, "There was smoke as if there was a fire along with the explosion." According to military sources, smoke and explosion sounds were observed around the Kaesong Industrial Complex area.

Kim Yo-jong, First Deputy Director of the North Korean Workers' Party, had earlier declared in a statement on the 13th that she was handing over the authority for the "next hostile action" to the General Staff of the People's Army, stating, "Soon, you will witness the miserable sight of the useless Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office collapsing without a trace." The warning became reality just three days later.

Thus, the liaison office, which opened in Kaesong in September of that year following the Panmunjom Declaration agreed upon by the South and North Korean leaders on April 27, 2018, disappeared into history after 19 months of operation.

Kim Yo-jong, First Deputy Director of the Workers' Party and younger sister of North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un

Meanwhile, the liaison office was opened with symbolic significance as the first-ever "24 hours a day, 365 days a year" consultation channel in inter-Korean relations.

In the Panmunjom Declaration, the South and North Korean leaders agreed to "establish the Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office in the Kaesong area, where officials from both sides would be stationed, to closely coordinate government-to-government consultations and smoothly guarantee civilian exchanges and cooperation."

The government renovated a building previously used as the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Consultation Office within the Kaesong Industrial Complex, spending a total of 9.78 billion KRW, including 3.49 billion KRW for materials, and began using it as the liaison office from September of that year.

Despite some twists and turns during the preparation process, including controversies over sanctions violations, the opening ceremony was successfully held on September 14 last year, attended by then Minister of Unification Cho Myoung-gyon and Ri Son-gwon, Chairman of North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country.

The liaison office building was a renovated four-story building formerly used as the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Consultation Office within the Kaesong Industrial Complex. South Korean personnel were stationed on the second floor, and North Korean personnel on the fourth floor, regularly meeting face-to-face.

Shortly after opening, various inter-Korean talks and working-level meetings in fields such as forestry cooperation, sports, healthcare cooperation, and communications were often held at the liaison office. The government had praised the liaison office as a representative achievement in inter-Korean relations.

However, after the Hanoi North Korea-U.S. summit ended in a "no deal" in February last year, the inter-Korean working-level meetings were suspended, leading to dysfunctional operations and casting a shadow of misfortune.

With the added variable of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), South Korean personnel withdrew starting January 30 this year, completely halting face-to-face consultations, which eventually led to the explosion.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.