[ti:North Korea Destroys Empty Liaison Office] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]North Korea destroyed the Inter-Korean liaison office building [00:04.88]just north of the border with South Korea on Tuesday. [00:10.60]Some considered the act a show of anger [00:14.04]that calls for answers from the United States and South Korea. [00:20.64]It comes as nuclear talks between the North and the U.S. have mostly stopped. [00:28.52]The building was empty, and the North had made clear plans to destroy it. [00:35.56]The move, however, is still provocative. [00:40.24]It is also a serious problem for efforts by South Korean President Moon Jae-in [00:46.28]to negotiate with the North. [00:50.04]North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said the country destroyed the office [00:56.60]because its "enraged people" want to "force (the) human scum... to pay dearly for their crimes." [01:05.72]South Korean experts believe the statement is talking about North Korean defectors [01:12.04]who are active in anti-North Korea propaganda. [01:17.60]The news agency did not give details [01:20.60]about how the office in the North Korean border town of Kaesong was destroyed. [01:27.04]South Korea's government later released military video showing clouds of rising smoke. [01:34.00]The liaison office was located at a now-closed industrial area [01:39.48]near the border between the two Koreas. [01:43.56]South Korea issued a statement expressing "strong regret" over the destruction of the building. [01:51.80]It also warned of a strong reaction if North Korea continues to hurt relations. [01:59.88]The statement was released following an emergency National Security Council meeting. [02:06.84]It said the destruction was "an act that betrays hopes for an improvement [02:12.28]in South-North Korean relations and the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula." [02:20.32]The North said last week that it was cutting off all government [02:24.72]and military communication with the South. [02:29.08]It also threatened to end peace agreements it had reached [02:33.20]during North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's three meetings with Moon in 2018. [02:40.24]Some outside experts believe the North's economy is getting worse [02:45.48]because of US-led restrictions and the effects of the coronavirus. [02:51.64]As a result, it is using provocative actions to push for an easing of the sanctions. [03:00.00]South Korea's answer to Tuesday's destruction was strong compared to past provocations. [03:08.88]The liaison office has been unoccupied since late January because of the coronavirus. [03:17.32]The office was opened in September 2018 [03:20.96]to aid communication between North Korea and South Korea. [03:27.08]It was considered an important part of Moon's policy of reconciliation. [03:33.96]On Saturday night, the sister of the North Korean leader [03:37.96]warned that Seoul would see the liaison office "being completely collapsed." [03:44.80]Kim Yo Jong also said she would leave North Korea's military to "take the next step." [03:52.96]On Monday, Moon urged North Korea to stop creating problems and return to talks. [04:01.80]He said the two Koreas must not cancel the 2018 inter-Korean summit deals. [04:09.92]Leif-Eric Easley is a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. [04:15.48]He said it is hard to see how the act of destruction [04:20.16]"will help the Kim regime get what it wants from the world, [04:23.72]but clearly such images will be used for...propaganda." [04:30.16]Inter-Korean relations have been strained since the breakdown of a second summit [04:35.68]between Kim and Trump in Vietnam in early 2019. [04:42.12]Disputes over what restrictions would be lifted in return [04:45.96]for North Korea closing its main nuclear complex caused the talks to fail. [04:53.84]I'm Jonathan Evans. [04:55.96]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM