North Korea blows up the South’s de facto embassy
And with it, detente on the Korean peninsula
AS THEATRICS go, it was impeccable. Shortly before 3pm on June 16th, a big cloud of smoke billowed suddenly from the site of the inter-Korean liaison office in the North Korean border city of Kaesong. As the dust settled, the building and much of its surroundings re-emerged, reduced to rubble. North Korean state media triumphantly reported that the office had been destroyed in a “terrific explosion”.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “In the dust”
From the June 20th 2020 edition
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