Breaking News: North Korea Blew up the Liaison Office with South Korea

North Korea has blown up a joint liaison office used for talks between itself and South Korea, the latest sign that ties between the two longtime adversaries are rapidly deteriorating.

North Korean state media reported that the four-story building, which is located in the town of Kaesong on the North Korean side of the demilitarized zone that divides the two Koreas, was "completely destroyed by a "terrific explosion" at 2:50 p.m. local time. A plume of black smoke rising above the site was visible from the South Korean side of the border shortly after.  

#BREAKING: loud explosion heard near the DMZ Korean border at 1450 KST, authorities think North Koera may have destroyed inter-Korean joint liaison office in Kaesong - @JoongAngDaily reports pic.twitter.com/nKCEUPqY3s

— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) June 16, 2020

The liaison office had been closed since January 30 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to the South Korean Unification Ministry. South Korean staff had not been to the building since, the ministry said. But its destruction is highly symbolic, and may mark a turning point in relations between two countries that had committed themselves to "a new era of peace" fewer than three years ago.   North Korea framed its decision to destroy the liaison office as a retaliatory measure after a group of defectors who used balloons to send anti-North Korean leaflets north of the DMZ. "The recent foolish act of daring hurt the dignity of our supreme leadership," a statement carried in KCNA Tuesday read. "The world will clearly see what severe punishment our people will mete out to the South Korean authorities and how they wipe the human scum off the earth. North Korea claimed the leaflets violated the deal Kim Jong Un...