South Korean Unification Minister Resigns
Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2020 2:56 am
South Korean Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul gets into a car as he leaves the government complex in Seoul, South Korea, June 19, 2020.
South Korea's unification minister resigned Friday over heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, days after the North destroyed its liaison office with the South.
President Moon Jae-in "accepted Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul's offer to resign," the presidency said in a statement, without offering further details.
Kim, the key official for relations with the North since April of last year, offered to quit the post on Wednesday, taking responsibility for the worsening of inter-Korean relations.
On Tuesday, North Korea used explosives to destroy the building on its side, angered by South Korean propaganda leaflets and aid supplies crossing the border into the North.
Inter-Korean relations had frozen for months after the collapse of a Hanoi, Vietnam, summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump.