South Korea's Unification Ministry said on Tuesday that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) demolished an inter-Korean liaison office in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong by an explosion.
The ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs said in a short statement that the DPRK blew up the Kaesong joint liaison office at 2:49 p.m. local time (0549 GMT).
The inter-Korean liaison office opened in September 2018 for the round-the-clock communications between South Korea and the DPRK.
According to a military source cited by multiple local media, an explosion was heard and smoke was seen rising from the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the afternoon.
An official at the South Korean defense ministry told Xinhua over phone that the ministry had nothing to confirm over the issue.
The explosion came after Kim Yo Jong, first vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and younger sister of top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un, said in a statement Saturday night that she had given instructions for decisive action to be taken.
"If I drop a hint of our next plan the South Korean authorities are anxious about, the right to taking the next action against the enemy will be entrusted to the General Staff of our army," she said, indicating an demolition of the joint liaison office.
All communication lines between South Korea and the DPRK were severed last week by Pyongyang in protest of anti-DPRK propaganda leaflets sent by defectors across the inter-Korean border.
