South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in shook up his security team and appointed veterans in North Korea relations after Kim Jong Un’s regime blew up a joint liaison office that once served as a symbol of his rapprochement toward Pyongyang.
Moon named Park Jie-won as the new head of the National Intelligence Service, his office said Friday. Park helped broker the first inter-Korea summit 20 years ago when he was the chief of staff to former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and last year met Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korea’s current leader at Panmunjom truce village that straddles the border between the two Koreas.
Before North Korea detonated explosives in the $15 million facility paid for by South Korea and located in the North Korean border city of Kaesong, Kim Yo Jong said it was "high time” to break ties with South Korea, blaming Moon for not living up to promises he made in three summits with Kim Jong Un that led to the setup of the liaison office.