N. Korea reunification symbol gone
Satellite images suggest monument destroyed
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea appears to have torn down a huge arch in its capital that symbolized reconciliation with South Korea, a week after leader Kim Jong Un dismissed decades of hopes for peaceful reunification with the war-divided peninsula’s south, according to satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press on Wednesday.
South Korea’s military also said Wednesday that North Korea fired several cruise missiles into waters off its western coast.
Kim last week described the Pyongyang monument as an “eyesore” and called for its removal while declaring that the North was abandoning long-standing goals of a peaceful unification with South Korea and ordered a rewriting of the North’s constitution to define the South as its most hostile foreign adversary.
Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC appeared to show the destruction of Pyongyang’s Monument to the Three Charters for National Reunification, also called the Arch of Reunification. An image Tuesday showed the arch missing along a roadway.
Clouds and snow cover made it difficult to ascertain when North Korea tore down the monument, but it appeared to be within the past few days. Nknews, a website focused on North Korea, first reported on the satellite images.
The arch was a 100-foot tall structure that looked over a highway leading to the city of Kaesong near the border with South Korea.
The cruise missile launches were North Korea’s second-known launch event of the year, following a Jan. 14 test-firing of the country’s first solid-fuel intermediate range ballistic missile, which reflected its efforts to advance its lineup of weapons targeting U.S. military bases in Japan and Guam.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday that the U.S. and South Korean militaries were analyzing the latest launches.
“Our military has increased surveillance and vigilance and is closely coordinating with the United States while monitoring for further signs and activity from North Korea,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have increased in recent months as Kim continues to accelerate his weapons development and issue threats of nuclear conflict with the United States and its Asian allies.
The United States, South Korea and Japan have been expanding their combined military exercises in response to the North’s missiles tests. Kim characterizes these drills as rehearsals for an invasion.
North Korea said last week that it conducted a test of a purported nuclear-capable underwater attack drone in response to a combined naval exercise by the United States, South Korea and Japan, as it blamed its rivals for tensions in the region.