North Korea is destroying a facility at its Mount Kumgang resort used for gatherings between families separated after the Korean War, South Korea said on Thursday.

In the latest sign of tensions between the two Koreas, a spokesperson for Seoul's unification ministry said: "The demolition of the Mount Kumgang Reunion Center is an inhumane act that tramples on the earnest wishes of separated families."

South Korea "sternly urges an immediate halt to such actions" and "expresses strong regret."

"North Korea's unilateral demolition cannot be justified under any pretext, and the North Korean authorities must bear full responsibility for this situation," the spokesperson added.

More than 133,600 South Koreans have registered themselves as "separated families" since 1988. This registration means they have relatives in the North.

Some 36,000 are still alive, according to official data.

Decades of tensions after a war that ended in a truce, rather than peace

North Korea has been gradually increasing its disapproval of South Korea in recent years, designating its neighbor as a "hostile state."

In 2024, Pyongyang also blew up sections of inter-Korean roads and rail lines on its side of the heavily fortified border. The move which saw Seoul's military respond by firing warning shots.

A year before, Pyongyang scrapped a 2018 military agreement that intended to curb the risk of inadvertent clashes between the two nations, prompting the South to take a similar step.

The separated families that meet at the Mount Kumgang Reunion Center are victims of a decades-long gridlock dating back to the 1950-53 war, which ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty, with ties increasingly strained as North Korea rapidly increased its weapons programs in recent years.

Edited by: Roshni Majumdar