SEOUL — North Korea blew up the joint liaison office in the border city of Kaesong used for bettering ties with South Korea after days of rising tensions on June 16.

South Korea's Ministry of Unification has confirmed the story with a statement registering its "deep regret" and protest over the North's action.

According to the BBC, the joint liaison office was established in 2018 to improve communications, though industrial cooperation in Kaesong was already halted by 2016.

The Guardian reports South Korea evacuated the liaison staff in January due to the coronavirus pandemic.

North Korea issued a statement saying, "We have exploded the eye-sore north-south joint liaison office," adding that "there are [sic] nothing to be implemented and no future for the north-south relations."

North Korea leader Kim Jung-un's sister Kim Yo-jong has been making threats to demolish the liaison office.

The BBC reports that during Kim Jung-un's absence in April, several observers speculated that Kim Yo-jong could become his successor.

North Korea's cited reason for destroying the site was that defectors have ballooned propaganda leaflets over from the South.