Tension Builds Up as North Korea Blows up Border Liaison Office, Will South Korea Retaliate?

On Tuesday, the border liaison office of North Korea gets blown up as the South Koreans still allowed sending of propaganda material by activists at the border.

According to Reuters, after North Korea demanded an end to leaflets sent over the border, decisive action will be taken.

North Korea's aggressive tactics

North Korea decided to blow the unoccupied office, as proof of their intention to not be trifled with. Witnesses say the building was ruined and destroyed to send the message clearly, which was unheeded.

The KCNA state news agency, reported the utter and complete demolition of the liaison office, at the border of Kaesong that has been abandoned since January.

A video that was recorded by South Korea's Ministry of Defence captured the demolition and explosion that brought down the four-story building a pile of rubble. Indication of the strong explosion which nearly collapsed the nearby 15-story housing for the staffers who manned the liaison office at the Kaesong Border.

Records state that when used, it functioned as an embassy for North and South Korea, but its ruin and demolition punctuates how displeased North Korea is.

The incident also serves as a setback to good relations between the two. One of the problems now is how to pull the North into an amicable arrangement as before and North Korea is not so easy to bring in too.

Demolition of the liaison office sent South Korea's national security council into an unplanned caucus on Tuesday, later adding that South Korea will respond in kind should North Korea cause more tensions.

Deputy national security advisor Kim You-Geun stated that the demolition of the liaison office was a disappointment for all who has hoped for better North-South Korean cooperation. This will further complicate their efforts for a lasting peaceful co-existence. The drastic North's response was unexpected too, he stressed in the briefing reported in CGTN.

Also read: Kim Jong-Un Reappears: North Korea Wants New Policies for 'Nuclear War Deterrence'

Tension builds up between North and South Korea

He added as a precaution to North Korea's violent act that whatever happens next will be on Pyongyang's conscience and consequences too.

North Korean, being one of the most secretive regimes, has nuclear capability and missile programs. This is why US and North Korean talks are at a standstill.

Historically, since the Korean War, North and South are not united, thus called two Koreas on the peninsula and peace is held by a 'truce' instead of a solid treaty.

For a long time, there have been threats to cut relations with the South. One cause is leaflets that are critical of North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un that has riled up some Northern officials. The South was warned before the demolition, but the North decided definite action.

In a statement from the KCNA, the office was blown up to make 'human scum' and their supporters pay for their crimes. Human scum is what the North calls defectors.

According to Reuters, the South Korean military said North Korea will be demolishing the building as retaliation, real-time monitoring captured the exact time the building was destroyed.

Operations of the office were to smoothen relations between the two Koreas but were shut down in 2016 over the North's nuclear ambitions.

Last Saturday, Kim Yo Jong sister to Kim Jong Un, gave the signal to blow it up. She later stressed that the useless north-south joint liaison office will be seen, as mentioned in The New York Times.