South Korean facilities in North Korea demolished under Kim Jong-un’s ‘hostile two states’ policy

North Korea has demolished South Korean-owned facilities including the Ananti Golf Resort and a gas station within the Mount Kumgang tourism zone, in what appears to be a continuation of Pyongyang’s efforts to erase South Korean presence under North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s “hostile two states” policy.

A U.S.-based media outlet specializing in North Korean issues, 38 North, reported on Wednesday that recent satellite imagery of the Mount Kumgang area shows “many of the South Korean-owned buildings have been demolished, with few remaining.”

“On imagery from Monday, demolition of the main club and spa building at the Ananti Golf Resort and Spa (Diamond Mountain Golf Resort and Spa) has been fully razed, but the family reunion center remains standing,” the 38 North report read.

“It has been assessed that the North is currently in the process of, or has already completed, the demolition of several facilities in the Mount Kumgang tourism zone, including the Ananti golf course and a gas station,” said a South Korean government official.

However, despite reports from last December of planned demolition, the inter-Korean family reunion center appears to remain standing.

“While the main 12-story building is still intact, imagery from February shows the roofs appear to have been removed from two auxiliary buildings on the site,” the 38 North report read.

The South Korean government had called for an “immediate halt” to the dismantling efforts in both December last year and again in February this year, interpreting the moves as part of a broader strategy by Kim to implement physical severance under his hostile two-state doctrine.

Kim first visited Mount Kumgang in January 2019 and ordered the removal of “shabby-looking South Korean facilities that are unpleasant to look at.”

Since then, North Korea has torn down various South Korean-built hotels, hot spring facilities, and other tourism infrastructure owned by Hyundai Asan and the South Korean government.

There were later signs that then-Premier Kim Tok-hun had visited the site to inspect the Mount Kumgang development project.

However, both South Korean government and private observers believe that North Korea is still a long way from completing any new tourism infrastructure to replace what was dismantled.

Although Kim had said during his 2019 visit that “if our compatriots from the South want to come to Mount Kumgang, they will be welcome anytime,” that message now appears inconsistent with his regime’s current push to erase themes of unification and shared national identity.

Notably, the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone — one of Kim’s pet projects — has yet to become fully operational.

Meanwhile, Jo Yong-won, one of Kim’s closest aides and secretary for organizational affairs of the Workers’ Party, who is believed to be under internal discipline due to misconduct by party cadres, was recently spotted in a newly issued North Korean postage stamp.

The stamp, issued by the North’s State Stamp Bureau to commemorate the first-year achievements of the “20×10 regional development policy,” includes an image of Jo accompanying Kim at the inauguration ceremony for the Songchon County local industrial plant on Dec. 20 last year.

The inclusion of Jo on the stamp lends further weight to the assessment that he was not purged or dismissed, but rather subjected to a lighter form of internal discipline such as self reflection or ideological re-education.