Kim destroys joint Korea office in rebuke to Seoul

Bloomberg

North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office on its side of the border, in an explosive rebuke to Seoul that appeared designed to draw maximum global attention with little immediate risk of war.
The move represented North Korea’s most serious provocation in years and follows an escalating series of threats against South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s government. The state-run Korean Central News Agency said in a statement that the office — the most concrete achievement from series of summits between the two Koreas in 2018 was — “tragically ruined with a terrific explosion.”
South Korea’s Unification Ministry called the demolition of a $15 million facility that served as a de facto embassy for the two countries a “senseless act” that had “destroyed the hopes of those who wished for peace on the Korean Peninsula.” The country’s National Security Council warned North Korea of a strong response if it took further actions, but gave no indication of imminent retaliation.
The destruction of the building comes about a week after Kim Jong-un’s regime abandoned its operations at the South Korea-funded facility, which allowed officials from both sides to communicate around the clock.
North Korea has been seeking to raise pressure on Moon in frustration over Seoul’s continued support for the US-led sanctions campaign that’s hobbled its economy.
While it wasn’t immediately clear how the allies would react, Kim’s target seemed chosen to embarrass Moon without provoking a military response from South Korea or US President Donald Trump. Moon has spent much of his presidency seeking better ties with Pyongyang, sometimes putting himself at odds with more hawkish voices in the Trump administration.
“We can expect Pyongyang will continue with similar military acts, but not enough that would force Seoul to retaliate in kind with force,” said Duyeon Kim, a senior adviser for Northeast Asia and Nuclear Policy at the International Crisis Group. “We should remember that the liaison office was essentially already dead, so, if there’s a real problem, then it’s for South Korean taxpayers.”
Shares of Top tech firms Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix dropped more than 1% in after-hours trading, according to data from brokerage Mirae Asset Daewoo. One-month dollar-won non-deliverable forwards rose 0.3% to 1,211.41, suggesting that the South Korean currency will weaken when trading resumes on Wednesday.
The incident was among the most serious provocations since 2010, when North Korea was suspected of torpedoing a South Korean warship, killing 46 sailors, and a few months later shelling a South Korean island, killing two soldiers and two civilians. The attacks threatened to spill into open fighting, but tensions were defused amid concerns about the devastation from another war.
Trade between the two Koreas has dropped to virtually zero from $2.7 billion in 2015, or about 10% of North Korea’s economy. The regime took a further hit when it sealed off its borders in January at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, which slammed the brakes on other trade with countries like China.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a briefing soon after the incident that the country hoped for peace on the Korean Peninsula, without mentioning the liaison office. China is North Korea’s main political backer and trading partner, giving it a key role in implementing international sanctions against North Korea.