Unified Korea

joint liaison office

- North Korea has blown up a joint liaison office with the South near the North's border town of Kaesong. The move comes just hours after the North renewed threats of military action at the Korean border.The site was opened in 2018 to help the Koreas - officially in a state of war - to communicate. It had been empty since January due to Covid-19 restrictions.In a statement, South Korea warned it would "respond strongly" if the North "continues to worsen the situation".The destruction of the office, it said, "abandons the hopes of everyone who wanted the development of inter-Korean relations and peace settlement in the Korean Peninsula".https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-53060620

connectivity
- North and South Korea have agreed to rebuild connections between railways and roads that were severed during the Korean War more than 60 years ago. https://abcnews.go.com/International/north-south-korea-restore-railway-road-connections-severed/story?id=58501715

• 南北韓東西部鐵路及公路對接工程的動工儀式，周三在北韓開城板門站舉行，各派出大約一百人出席，並舉行簽字、鐵路接軌及指示路牌揭幕等。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20181227/00180_011.html

- South Korea said Saturday that the United Nations Security Council granted an exemption to sanctions that will allow surveys on North Korean railroad sections the Koreas want to connect with the South. The surveys would require the South to bring to the North fuel and a variety of goods, including possibly cars to test on northern tracks. The Koreas plan to hold a groundbreaking ceremony by the end of the year on an ambitious project to connect their railways and roads as agreed by their leaders. But beyond surveys and tape-cuttings, they cannot move much further along without the lifting of U.S.-led sanctions against North Korea, which isn't likely before Pyongyang takes firmer steps toward relinquishing its nuclear weapons and missiles. http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201811240026.html

china
- 曾參與韓戰的原瀋陽軍區副參謀長張斌上周五凌晨在遼寧瀋陽逝世，終年九十九歲。原籍安徽的張斌生前曾參與多場革命及戰役，直至韓戰期間，張更被編制入軍，赴韓作戰。至兩韓停火後，張斌更任朝鮮軍事停戰委員會聯合談判第三觀察小組的中方首席代表，親歷板門店談判。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20190212/00178_016.html