Kim You-geun, deputy director of the National Security Office under Cheong Wa Dae, on June 16 gives a news briefing at the presidential office after the National Security Council held an emergency meting. (Yonhap News)

By Lee Hana

The National Security Council on June 16 held an emergency meeting hours after North Korea demolished an inter-Korean liaison office in the border city of Gaeseong.

The council expressed "strong regret" over the North's unilateral explosion of the building, which was established with the signing of the 2018 Panmunjom Declaration.

"The demolition constitutes an action betraying the expectations of all who wish for the development of inter-Korean relations and the settlement of peace on the Korean Peninsula," Kim You-geun, deputy director of Cheong Wa Dae's national security office, told reporters after the meeting.

"The government makes it clear that responsibility for anything that happens as a result of this act lies entirely with the North's side. We will strongly respond should North Korea take any action that further worsens the situation," he said.

hlee10@korea.kr