Thu, Jan 25, 2024 page5

• North Korea demolishes reunification symbol

  • The Guardian
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  North Korea has demolished a monument that symbolized hope for reconciliation with the South, days after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said that the peaceful reunification of the two Koreas was no longer possible.

  In the latest sign of rising tensions on the peninsula, the Arch of Reunification — built in 2000 after a landmark inter-Korean summit — has disappeared from satellite imagery, the NK News Web site reported.

  It was not immediately clear when or how it had been taken down, NK News said.

  

  People participate in National Liberation Day celebrations near the Arch of Reunification in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Aug. 14, 2015.

  Photo: Reuters

  Kim, whose tone has become markedly belligerent in the past few weeks, described the concrete arch — which shows two women, one each from the North and South, holding an emblem of the outline of the Korean Peninsula — as an “eyesore” at a speech this month to the Supreme People’s Assembly, the North’s rubber-stamp parliament.

  He added that North Korea’s constitution should be amended to reflect South Korea’s new status as his country’s “principal enemy” — effectively ending decades of official policy that stressed the eventual reunification the countries.

  The 30m arch, formally known as the Monument to the Three Charters for National Reunification, symbolized self-reliance, peace and national cooperation, South Korean government records showed.

  Located on Reunification Highway, which connects Pyongyang to the heavily armed border with South Korea, it was reportedly erected to commemorate plans for reunification put forward by Kim’s grandfather and North Korean founder Kim Il-sung.

  While purely symbolic, its reported removal would add to fears that North Korea has taken a more provocative course in its relations with the South and its allies, months before the US presidential elections.

  The regime claimed it had launched its first spy satellite in November last year, and last week said it had test-fired a new ballistic missile tipped with a hypersonic maneuverable warhead.

  South Korea’s military yesterday said the North had launched several cruise missiles into the sea, a fortnight after it fired artillery rounds near the countries’ disputed maritime border.

  “We’re watching this very, very closely,” US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said, when asked if the provocative tone of recent North Korean announcements — including one in which it said it was “preparing for nuclear war” — was cause for concern.

  “I would just tell you that we remain confident that the defensive posture that we’re maintaining on the peninsula is appropriate to the risk,” he added.

  There is little prospect of a return to the era of cross-border rapprochement symbolized by the monument.

  South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has taken a harder line against Pyongyang, vowing immediate and tough responses to North Korean provocations.

  In response, the North has vowed to “wipe out” its neighbor if attacked by South Korean and US forces.

  Late last year, Pyongyang said that a 2018 agreement with the South designed to de-escalate military tensions was no longer valid.

  The North Korean Supreme People’s Assembly last week abolished government agencies that had overseen engagement with the South.

  Additional reporting by Reuters
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