North Korea has begun demolishing the reunion facility for families separated during the 1950-53 Korean War, the last South Korean government facility within the Mount Kumgang Tourist Region in the North, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said Thursday.
“The government has confirmed that North Korea is demolishing the Kumgang Mountain separated family reunion facility, which embodies the wish for regular reunions between separated families,” said Unification Ministry spokesperson Koo Byoung-sam in a statement.
“The South Korean government strongly regrets that North Korea is unilaterally demolishing the Kumgang Mountain separated family reunion facility, which was established through an agreement between the South and the North, and we strongly urge that this demolition immediately cease,” Koo continued. “The demolition of the facility is an inhumane act that tramples on the wishes of separated families and is a serious infringement on our national property.”
The South Korean government would review necessary measures, including legal action and cooperation with the international community.
Construction on the separated family reunion facility began on Aug. 31, 2005, following an agreement at the 5th North-South Red Cross talks in November 2003. A total of 51.2 billion won ($35 million) was invested to build the facility, which has 12 floors above ground and one underground floor. The building was completed in July 2008.
After completion, the facility was not used for about a year after a South Korean tourist was shot in the Mount Kumgang Tourist Region. It was put into operation for the first time in September 2009, when a group reunion event for separated families took place on the Chuseok holiday of that year.
The facility has since served as a place for humanitarian exchange, with inter-Korean family reunions taking place five times: in September 2009, October-November 2010, February 2014, October 2015 and August 2018.
After the 2019 Hanoi summit between the North and the United States collapsed, Kim Jong-un ordered that “all the dirty South Korean facilities that make you feel bad just looking at them should be completely torn down” during an inspection of Mount Kumgang in October of the same year.
Starting in 2022, the Haegeumgang Hotel, Mt. Kumgang Golf Course accommodations, Onjeonggak, Guryong Village, Kumkang Pension Town, Goseong Port raw fish restaurant and hot spring facilities owned by South Korean companies have been dismantled. In addition, in April and December of last year, the fire station and Ananti Golf Clubhouse buildings, which were South Korean government assets, were demolished.
Last year, North Korea blew up the Gyeongui Line and Donghae Line roads and railroads and is also carrying out fortification work, including a barrier in the demilitarized zone.
A Unification Ministry official said the demolition work appeared to have been ordered by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]
