Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
ON THE BRINK..
North Korea blows up liaison office as tensions rise in region
NORTH Korea dramatically blew up a liaison office set up to calm tensions with the South, pushing the region closer to all-out war.
Kim Jong-un’s troops set off a “terrific explosion” demolishing the building in the border town of Kaesong.
It followed the North’s unsuccessful demands for the South to stop defectors sending propaganda balloons across the border. Messages slamming Kim’s regime have also been posted in bottles floated to the North. The dictator has called the defectors, “human scum”.
The explosion was followed up by a threat to order NK forces to advance into the “no-man’s land” demilitarised zone on the border, escalating war fears.
Hundreds of thousands of Korean troops on both sides are on high alert, as well as 25,000 US troops in the South. An American carrier strike force is thought to be deploying to the region.
In the South, Seoul has launched a huge surveillance operation to watch for NK troop movements.
Video released by the South showed a large explosion that brought down the four-storey structure. The office served as an embassy for the rival Koreas.
The South’s national security council held an emergency meeting yesterday and said it would sternly respond if NK continued to raise tensions.
Deputy national security adviser Kim You-geun said the destruction of the office, “broke the expectations of all people who hope for the development of inter-korean relations and lasting peace on the peninsula”.