Chilling satellite images captured on January 8 and again on January 23 show the North Korean capital, Pyongyang’s Reunification Arch landmark, towering tall before a huge crater replaces it.
Amid escalating tensions between the two nations, North Korean dictator Kim had earlier criticized the arch, which he said symbolized “reconciliation” with the South, a concept he rejects.
Upon its completion in 2001, the famous landmark was around 100 feet in height and 200 feet in width. Two women from North Korea and one from South Korea clasp hands in “Monument to the Three Charters for National Reunification.”
According to NK News, an online publication that follows North Korea, the arch can be seen in the first picture but not in the second. A huge black hole appears to have opened up where the landmark was located in the January 23 aerial photo.
Kim referred to the arch as an “eye-sore” on January 15 and declared that it should be removed entirely to eliminate such concepts as reunification, or reconciliation, with fellow countrymen from the national history of the Republic’s past.
Citing the South as a primary foe and invariable principal enemy, he also directed a constitutional amendment, according to state media.
This month, the sister of Kim Jong-un, Kim Yo-Jong, has threatened an immediate military strike on the South at the slightest provocation.
An article on the now-defunct DPRK website Naenara stated that the statue’s female figures clutched a symbol representing the contour of the whole Korean Peninsula.
In 1972, former North Korean president Kim Il Sung offered three charters for national reunification: independence, peaceful reunification, and national unity.
In reaction to North Korea’s missile tests, military drills between South Korea and the United States have intensified, rekindling tensions between the two countries.
On January 14, 2024, North Korea initiated its first provocative ballistic missile launch of the year, just off its eastern coast.
Reunification doesn’t seem to be in North Korea’s immediate plans.