S. Korea to brace for growing inter-Korean tension

South Korea will take steps to minimize negative economic fallout caused by North Korea's explosion of the inter-Korean liaison office, the country's finance minister said Tuesday.

In the afternoon, North Korea blew up the office in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, an inter-Korean cooperative industrial zone in the North's city near the border, after cutting off all communication lines with South Korea. Pyongyang blamed the South for the deadlock in inter-Korean relations on June 13.

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki asked the ministry's senior officials to closely monitor the developments in the local and global financial markets in an emergency meeting held late Tuesday afternoon at the government complex in Sejong City, 130 kilometers south of Seoul.

The policymaker also said the ministry should be ready to take measures to reduce the negative impact of the North's threatening actions on the economy and financial markets.

News of the explosion of the office sent shares of major companies, like Samsung Electronics Co., lower in after-hours trading.

As of 5:40 p.m. shares of Samsung Electronics fell 1.54 percent to 51,300 won ($42.30) from the closing price of 52,100 won. (Yonhap)