Sawt Falasteen - North Korea demolishing family reunion centre, Seoul says

The reunions in the North's Kumgang mountain, last held in 2018, were a testament to the devastating human cost of the Korean peninsula's division.

But the meetings were subject to the vagaries of inter-Korea politics and often used as a negotiating tool by Pyongyang.

"The demolition of the Mount Kumgang Reunion Center is an inhumane act that tramples on the earnest wishes of separated families," a spokesperson for Seoul's unification ministry said.

South Korea "sternly urges an immediate halt to such actions" and "expresses strong regret".

"North Korea's unilateral demolition cannot be justified under any pretext, and the North Korean authorities must bear full responsibility for this situation," the spokesperson added.

Since 1988, around 130,000 South Koreans have registered their "separated families".

As of 2025, around 36,000 of those individuals are still alive, according to official data.

Seventy-five percent say they do not know if their relatives are alive or dead.

Some were lucky enough to be chosen to take part in occasional crossborder reunions, mostly hosted at the Mount Kumgang resort.

- Separated for life -

North and South Korea held the first such reunion in 1985, but it was not until 2000 that they became regular events following the first inter-Korean summit that year.

The reunions were marked by emotional scenes of families tearfully reuniting and parting after brief days of meeting.

Relations between the two Koreas are now at one of their lowest points in years, with the North launching a flurry of ballistic missiles last year in violation of UN sanctions.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last year declared Seoul his "principal enemy" and renounced his government's long-held goal of re-unification.

Pyongyang has also bombarded the South with trash-carrying balloons, in what it says is retaliation for anti-Pyongyang propaganda missives sent north by activists.

The reunion program has been effectively halted, leaving tens of thousands of separated families with dwindling hopes of ever seeing their loved ones again.

J.AbuShaban--SF-PST