Kim Jong Un orders the destruction of S. Korean-made hotels in North

Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader has reportedly ordered the destruction of South Korean-made hotels and other tourist facilities at the North's Diamond Mountain resort. After Kim's recent visit to the resort, he described its facilities as “shabby” and lacking "national character". Kim's comments are seen as a major setback to liberal South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The two leaders have also met each other three times last year and expressed their ambitions to reboot the inter-Korean economic engagement.

According to an international media outlet, Kim said that the buildings are just a hotchpotch with no national character at all and that they were built like makeshift tents in a disaster-stricken area or isolation wards. He said due to the mistaken policy of the predecessors who tried to get benefits without any efforts after just offering the tourist area, the mountain was left uncared for more than 10 years. He made a sharp criticism of the very wrong, dependent policy of the predecessors who were going to rely on others when the country was not strong enough.

The destruction orders come as Seoul won't defy international sanctions and resume South Korean tours at the site. Kim has reportedly ordered the officials to remove the “unpleasant-looking facilities” entirely. He also discussed the matter with South Korean officials regarding the construction of “new modern service facilities” their own way that would go with the natural scenery of Mt. Kumgang. The North Korean leader has always criticized North Korea's policies pushed under his late father. Kim believes that those policies are too dependent on the South and vowed that the North would redevelop the site on its own. 

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US-North Korea Denuclearization Talks 

Kim's decision comes during the standstill negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang. Talks between the United States and North Korea in Sweden concluded with an abrupt end earlier this month. The talks were conducted to resume the denuclearisation process which had been stopped since the collapse of the second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. North Korea's chief negotiator Kim Myong-Gil, said that after meeting with his US counterpart, Stephen Biegun, the talks broke down due to Washington's failure to come up with a new proposal. 

Kim Myong-Gil expressed immense displeasure and stated that the talks have been suspended. He also said that urged the US to deliberate until the end of the year. In addition, he said that it is on the US whether to keep the possibilities of the dialogue alive or "forever close the door to dialogue". However, the US State Department also hit back and criticized North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un. 

(With AP inputs)

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