According to a Jan. 24 piece by Reuters, Pyongyang demolished the 30-meter tall arch – formally the Monument to the Three Charters for National Reunification. South Korean government records stated that the three charters represented by the arch were self-reliance, peace and national cooperation. KCNA Watch noted that the arch was erected on Aug. 14, 2001, during the leadership of former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
"The concrete arch … shows two women, one each from the North and South, holding an emblem of the outline of the Korean peninsula," the Guardian wrote. Prior to its reported demolition, the arch had been "located on [North Korea's] Reunification Highway, which connects Pyongyang to the heavily armed border with the South."
Satellite imagery of North Korea captured on Jan. 23 showed that the arch was no longer there, NK News reported. Reuters could not independently confirm that the monument had been demolished, however.
The arch's demolition was ordered by Kim Jong Un, current North Korean leader and Jong Il's youngest son. Jong Un called the arch an "eyesore" during a Jan. 15 speech at the Supreme People's Assembly, North Korea's unicameral legislature.
On the same day, the incumbent leader ordered the amendment of the North Korean constitution to say that South Korea was a "primary foe and invariable principal enemy." Jong Un also ordered the abolition of key government agencies that have played a huge role in building relationships with Seoul. (Related: North Korea’s Kim Jong Un deems South Korea Pyongyang's ENEMY NO. 1.)
"Tensions have spiked on the Korean Peninsula following intensifying military maneuvers by the South Korean and [American] militaries in response to weapons testing by the North, which said it was readying for a nuclear war with its enemies," Reuters wrote.
All talk of reunification no longer on the table
"While purely symbolic, [the arch's] reported removal will add to fears that North Korea has taken a more provocative course in its relations with the South and its allies months before the U.S. presidential elections," the Guardian meanwhile remarked.
"We're watching this very, very closely," said U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby when asked if Pyongyang appeared to be changing its position on a potential war with Seoul. "I would just tell you that we remain confident that the defensive posture that we're maintaining on the [Korean] peninsula is appropriate to the risk."
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who took office in 2022, has taken a hard line against the north. The conservative leader called for immediate and tough responses to North Korea's military actions that have raised tensions on the peninsula.
"Should North Korea provoke us, we will punish them multiple times as hard," the South Korean leader said during a Jan. 16 cabinet meeting, a day after Jong Un delivered his remarks. Yoon added that he believes peace can only be achieved through strength.
North Korea has vowed to "wipe out" the South if Seoul and Washington's military forces attack. Late last year, Pyongyang said a key agreement signed with Seoul in 2018 that sought to de-escalate military tensions was no longer valid. Moreover, the Guardian also outlined several provocative actions by the North.
Last November, North Korea launched its spy satellite. On the same week as Jong Un's speech, it test-fired a new ballistic missile tipped with a hypersonic maneuverable warhead.
On Jan. 24, the South Korean military said the North had launched several cruise missiles into the sea – two weeks after it fired artillery rounds near the two countries' disputed maritime border. "The North has used missile launches to protest joint military exercises by South Korean and U.S. forces, which the [Kim] regime considers a rehearsal for an invasion," the Guardian remarked.
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