Demolition of the Inter-Korean Liaison Office

Also called: Kaesong liaison office demolition

North Korea blew up the building of the inter-Korean joint liaison office set up in Kaesong under the Panmunjom Declaration.

Under the Panmunjom Declaration, an inter-Korean joint liaison office opened in the Kaesong Industrial Complex on 14 September 2018, where staff from both sides worked together and kept in contact around the clock. But relations froze after the breakdown of the Hanoi summit, and in January 2020 the office was temporarily closed because of COVID-19.

In June 2020, objecting to leaflets sent north by defector groups, North Korea attacked the South in statements by Kim Yo Jong, first vice department director of the Workers’ Party, and on 9 June cut all inter-Korean communication lines. On 13 June Kim Yo Jong warned that the South would soon see “the useless North–South joint liaison office completely collapsed”, and at 2:49 p.m. on 16 June North Korea blew the building up.