The Inter-Korean Liaison Office bombing (Korean: 남북공동연락사무소 폭파사건; lit. 'Inter-Korean Liaison Office Demolition Incident') occurred on 16 June 2020, when the Inter-Korean Liaison Office, located in Kaesong, North Korea, was demolished by the Korean People's Army.
The two Koreas decided to close the office on 30 January in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and South Korean staff left the same day. Before the incident, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's sister Kim Yo Jong blamed North Korean defectors in South Korea for spreading leaflets across the Korean Demilitarized Zone, which North Korea said violated the Panmunjom Declaration. This incident worsened inter-Korean relations.
Background
Following the signing of the Panmunjom Declaration at the April 2018 inter-Korean summit, North Korea and South Korea agreed to establish a "permanent liaison office". Originally scheduled to open in August 2018, the opening of the Inter-Korean Liaison Office was delayed until 14 September, following a visit to North Korea by United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Although operations at the office faced a long-term suspension following the breakdown of the 2019 North Korea–United States Hanoi Summit, twice-daily communications between liaison officers continued.
On 30 January 2020, both nations agreed to suspend operations at the offices in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and South Korean staff left that day. The South Korean Ministry of Unification stated that the relevant personnel were relocated to Seoul so that operations could continue after the closure.
North Korea's dissatisfaction with South Korea's actions
On 4 June 2020, Kim Yo Jong, an alternate member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and the First Deputy Director of the Organization and Guidance Department, said that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was dissatisfied with a group of defectors sending 500,000 leaflets, 50 manuals, 2,000 $1 bills, and 1,000 memory cards along the Korean Demilitarized Zone on 31 May toward the DPRK, and demanded to immediately improve the situation. Subsequently, a spokesman for the United Front Department of the Workers' Party of Korea unilaterally announced the closure of the Inter-Korean Liaison Office the following day. Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, pointed out at a central government meeting that the dissemination of the leaflets was a hostile act in violation of the inter-Korean peace agreement, and therefore cut off all communication channels with the Korean authorities on 9 June.
On 12 June, Kwon Jeong-geun, the Director General of United States Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Korea, condemned the remarks made by the South Korean side regarding efforts for the DPRK–US dialogue and denuclearization. Jang Kum-chol, the Head of the United Front Department, also issued a statement stating that he felt distrust of the inaction of the South Korean government. Subsequently, in a speech on 13 June, Kim Yo Jong once again criticized South Korea for ignoring bilateral relations and conniving with defectors, saying that it was "the time to say goodbye" to the South Korean government and authorizing the Korean People's Army to decide on a continuation of the enemy's actions. Kim Yo Jong also pointed out in her speech on the same day that "in the near future, the useless joint liaison office between the North and the South will disappear".
South Korea's response
After the South Korean government was informed of the North's dissatisfaction, Ministry of Unification spokesman Roh Sang-ki said at a regular press conference on 4 June that the act of spreading anti-DPRK leaflets threatened the safety of people and property in the border area and that the government was studying an effective plan in this regard and called on people not to spread anti-DPRK leaflets at the border. On the same day, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense spokesman Choi Hyun-soo said at a regular press conference that the South Korean government has not changed its position on the implementation of the Pyongyang Joint Declaration, which was signed by the two Koreas on 19 September 2018, in response to the North's unilateral threat to dismantle the agreement.
At a regular press conference in the morning of 8 June, the Ministry of Unification said that according to the routine business arrangement of the Inter-Korean Liaison Office, the two Koreas talk once a day in the morning and once in the afternoon, but in the morning of that day, the North did not answer the phone, which was the first time that the North did not answer the phone after the establishment of the office in 2018. On the following day, a regular press conference of the Ministry of Unification stated that the DPRK answered the phone on the afternoon of the 8 June, but did not mention why they did not take the call in the morning and said that the two sides should maintain communication channels. The North Korean government subsequently cut all communication channels with the South Korean authorities on 9 June, and the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a press conference that afternoon, saying that it would closely monitor changes in inter-Korean relations with the United States. In response to the unilateral cut-off, Blue House only said that the inter-Korean communication channels "should continue to be maintained and used according to a mutual agreement", prompting the opposition People Power Party to criticize the Moon Jae-in administration for adopting a low-profile toward North Korea and allowing North Korea to take advantage of it.
On 10 June, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported two groups of defectors who had violated the regulations on the distribution of leaflets to the DPRK under the Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act and decided to cancel their registration licenses. On 14 June, the South Korean government expressed concern over Kim's remarks, and the Ministry of National Defense held an emergency meeting at the Blue House on the same morning to check the military's readiness and discuss how to deal with North Korea.
Events
Yonhap News Agency quoted sources as saying that the South Korean government observed vehicles suspected of carrying explosives at the inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office after Kim and Jung spoke on 13 June. The South Korean military observed flames on the first and second floors of the office the following day.
On the morning of 16 June, the General Staff Department of the Korean People's Army issued a communiqué stating that it is fully prepared for the ongoing deterioration of inter-Korean relations and that it has firmly guaranteed any external measures taken by the party and the government from a military perspective. In response, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Choi Hyun-soo stressed at a regular press conference that the South Korean military is on alert to deal with any situation at any time, and said the South Korean side will work closely with the U.S. to keep a close watch and track the movement of the North Korean forces. The government then observed a loud noise and smoke coming from the Kaesong Industrial Region in the afternoon, and the military immediately checked whether it was related to the demolition of the Inter-Korean Liaison Office, and said it was stepping up its surveillance and alert of the North Korean side, while asking the frontline commander to take up his position to command the border guard force. The Republic of Korea Army confirmed through visual observation that the Inter-Korean Liaison Office building in the Kaesong industrial area had been blown up, and the North Korean authorities later confirmed that the General Staff Department of the Korean People's Army had given orders to the mission unit to blow up the Inter-Korean Liaison Office at 2:49 p.m. Pyongyang time, saying through the official media, Korean Central Broadcasting Station, that this was in response to the public opinion of the North Korean people.
After the destruction of the office, the North Korean authorities said that they will redeploy military forces to the Kaesong industrial area and the Geumgang Mountain International Tourism Special Zone at the border, and reestablish posts and restart military drills. In response to the North Korean government's statement, the chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Jeon Dong-jin, said that he will closely monitor the North Korean government's movement 24 hours a day and will respond strongly if provoked by military actions. South Korean president Moon Jae-in convened a plenary session of the National Security Council after learning of the destruction of the office, the ninth time since he took power. After the meeting, Kim Yoo-geun, secretary general of the National Security Council, said that the DPRK's action completely failed to meet the expectations of everyone who is looking forward to the development of inter-Korean relations and permanent peace on the Korean peninsula, and made it clear that the DPRK should be held responsible for all consequences arising from it. In regards to the North's bombing of the office, Yoon Do-han, chief secretary for national communications at Blue House, said that the South Korean government has not received any plans or notifications.
The South Korean diplomatic personnel dormitory adjacent to the office was also affected by the impact of the explosion, resulting in a collapse of the outer wall of the dormitory. According to the photos taken by the television station, Korean Broadcasting System, on 17 June at a height of about 2000 meters in the no-fly zone along the military demarcation line, it was also found that the comprehensive support center for the Kaesong Industrial Area near the office was also affected and seriously damaged. On 19 June, South Korean government sources told the JoongAng Ilbo that after analyzing the images of the South Korean army and the North Korean official media, it was found that the TNT explosives set up by the North Korean explosion should amount to hundreds of kilograms.
Aftermath
Inter-Korean relations
On 15 June, South Korean president Moon Jae-in, proposed to North Korea to send Chung Eui-yong, the director of the Office of National Security, and Suh Hoon, the director of the National Intelligence Service, as special envoys to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but on 17 June, North Korea rejected the proposal. In response to North Korea's unilateral message that it wanted to send envoys, Moon said that although the act was a bit too much, he would continue to explore ways to break through the Korean impasse to keep persuading North Korea and the United States. Under the situation where relations between North and South Korea continue to deteriorate, South Korean Minister of Unification Kim Yeon-chul resigned on 17 June taking responsibility for the degradation of inter-Korean relations. The spokesman of the Blue House, Kang Min Seok, said in a press conference on the morning of 19 June that Moon Jae-in agreed to his resignation and said that Moon Jae-in had dinner with Kim Yeon-chul on the evening of 18 June and listened to Kim Yeon-chul's position.
After the North Korean government bombed the office, United Front Department head Kim Yong-chol said that there would be no more exchanges, cooperations or even talks between the two Koreas in the future, adding that "everything that has happened between the two sides should be treated as a dream", while the North Korean government continued to push forward military measures and said through the official media that it had prepared more than 3,000 balloons and 12 million leaflets for "retaliatory punishment". The leaflets were published with a picture of Moon drinking tea, a string of mocking words and a lot of smoked cigarette butts on the end. The South Korean military said it will pay close attention to how the North Koreans act and the way they take action, and then return with any possible military response. The South Korean military also found that the North Korean government has reinstalled loudspeakers for "psychological warfare" in non-military areas, indicating that the two sides' previous efforts to improve relations have returned to square one.