Seoul says North Korea is destroying facility that hosted reunions of war-separated families

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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.

Seoul’s Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said it had confirmed that North Korea was demolishing the building, named the Reunion Center for the Separated Families, and urged the North to suspend the destruction. The North had previously removed a South Korea-built hotel, golf course and other tourist facilities from the Diamond Mountain resort.

“Demolishing the reunion center is an act against humanity that crushes the yearning of separated families, as well as a grave infringement of our state-owned property,” the ministry said in a statement. The ministry said the South’s government will consider “necessary” countermeasures, including legal action and international pressure, but it isn’t clear whether Seoul has any effective options.

In 2023, South Korea filed a 44.7 billion won ($30 million) damage suit against North Korea for blowing up a joint liaison office just north of their border in 2020. The lawsuit was seen as symbolic as there’s no clear way for South Korea to force North Korea to pay if it is found liable for damages.