North Korea has demolished a monument that symbolised hope for reconciliation with the South, days after the regime’s leader, Kim Jong-un, said 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, according to the NK News website. It was not immediately clear when or how it had been taken down, NK News said.
Kim, whose tone has become markedly belligerent in recent 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 the North’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 of the autocratic North with the democratic South.
The 30-metre arch, formally known as the Monument to the Three Charters for National Reunification, symbolised self-reliance, peace and national cooperation, according to South Korean government records.
Located on Reunification Highway, which connects Pyongyang to the heavily armed border with the South, 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 will 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, and last week said it had test-fired a new ballistic missile tipped with a hypersonic manoeuvrable warhead. On Wednesday, South Korea’s military said the North had launched several cruise missiles into the sea, a fortnight after it fired artillery rounds near the countries’ disputed maritime border.
The North has used missile launches to protest joint military exercises by South Korean and US forces, which the regime considers a rehearsal for an invasion.
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, White House spokesperson John Kirby said: “We’re watching this very, very closely.”
He added: “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.”
There is little prospect of a return to the era of cross-border rapprochement symbolised by the monument.
Under its conservative president, Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea 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 neighbour if attacked by South Korean and US forces. Late last year, Pyongyang said a 2018 agreement with the South designed to de-escalate military tensions was no longer valid.
The Supreme People’s Assembly last week abolished government agencies that had overseen engagement with the South.
Reuters contributed reporting.
