North Korea demolishing facility for separated families — Seoul

Pyongyang is demolishing a venue in North Korea that hosted reunions of families separated for decades by the Korean War and the division of the country, Seoul has said.

"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 on Thursday.

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.

Thousands separated since 1988

More than 133,600 South Koreans registered themselves as "separated families", meaning they have relatives in the North, since 1988.

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

Some have been lucky enough to be chosen to take part in occasional cross-border reunions, mostly hosted at the Mount Kumgang resort.

The last such reunion happened in 2018.

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

North Korea has been escalating its rhetoric against its southern neighbour in recent years, designating South Korea as a "hostile state".