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North Korea is tearing down a key venue that once hosted reunions for families separated by the Korean War, South Korea confirmed on Thursday, calling the move “inhumane.”
The Mount Kumgang Reunion Centre, which facilitated emotional meetings between long-separated relatives, is being demolished by Pyongyang, Seoul’s unification ministry said.
‘Trampling on wishes of separated families’
“The demolition of the Mount Kumgang Reunion Center is an inhumane act that tramples on the earnest wishes of separated families,” a spokesperson for the ministry stated.
South Korea “sternly urges an immediate halt to such actions” and “expresses strong regret,” the official added.
“North Korea’s unilateral demolition cannot be justified under any pretext, and the North Korean authorities must bear full responsibility for this situation.”
Decades of separation
Since 1988, more than 133,600 South Koreans have registered as “separated families,” meaning they have relatives in the North. However, as of 2025, only around 36,000 are still alive, according to official figures.
For years, some families were allowed to meet at the Mount Kumgang resort in planned reunions, but these meetings often depended on political relations between the two Koreas. The last reunion was in 2018.
The reunions were a rare chance for aging family members to meet their loved ones after decades apart, but North Korea has frequently used them as a bargaining tool in negotiations with Seoul.
Seoul has condemned Pyongyang’s decision, viewing it as yet another setback in inter-Korean relations.
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