South Korean government expresses strong regret

The South Korean Defence Ministry on Wednesday (June 17) expressed deep concern over the North's military plans announced after Pyongyang blew up an inter-Korean liaison office on its side of the border.

Satellite images released on Wednesday (June 17) show an inter-Korean liaison office before it was destroyed amid rising tensions between the North and South Korea.

"(The South Korean military) expresses deep concern today over the North Korean military general staff's announcement that it will ratify military action plans that bluntly go against past inter-Korean agreements, the 2018 Panmunjom Declaration and the September 19 military agreement," said Jeon Dong-Jin, Director of Operation in the South Korean Army Joint Chiefs of Staff.

He added that "(Such a move) immediately thwarts the efforts and achievements made by the two Koreas to maintain peace on the Korean peninsula, and the North will surely pay if these measures are put into action." Earlier in the day, North Korea released statements saying they rejected South Korea's offer to send special envoys to ease escalating tensions over defector activity and stalled reconciliation efforts and vowed to redeploy troops to demilitarised border areas.

South Korean military warned that North Korea's such movement thwarts the efforts and achievements to maintain peace on the Korean peninsula, and they will surely pay if these measures are put into action.

The Unification Ministry of South Korea also showed strong regret on North Korea's plan to dispatch troops to Mount Kumgang and Kaesong near the border, where the two Koreas had carried out joint economic projects in the past.