SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea is demolishing a South Korea-built property that had been used to host reunions of families separated during the 1950-53 Korean War, the South’s government said Thursday, as it continues to eliminate symbols of engagement between the war-divided rivals.
Relations between the Koreas are at their worst in years, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continuing to flaunt his expanding nuclear weapons program and declaring to abandon long-standing goals of inter-Korean reconciliation, while describing the South as a permanent enemy.
The 12-story building at the North’s scenic Diamond Mountain resort, which has 206 rooms and banquet facilities for hosting meetings, had been used for family reunions since 2009. The Koreas last held a family reunion in 2018, after Kim initiated diplomacy with Seoul and Washington in an effort to leverage his nuclear program for economic benefits.
Negotiations derailed in 2019 after a failed summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump, who was serving his first term, when the Americans rejected North Korea’s demands for a major release of U.S.-led economic sanctions in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities. The North has since suspended virtually all diplomatic activity with the South and ignored U.S. requests to resume talks while accelerating the development of nuclear weapons and missiles.
