SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea stated on Tuesday it would sever hotlines with South Korea as the initial step towards shutting down all contact.
The decision, revealed by the KCNA state news agency, marks a brand-new setback amidst stalled efforts to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.
For numerous days, North Korea has blasted South Korea, threatening to close an inter-Korean liaison workplace and other tasks if Seoul does not stop defectors from sending leaflets and other material into the North.
Top North Korean officials, including leader Kim Jong Un’s sis, Kim Yo Jong, and Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Celebration, identified “that the work towards the South should thoroughly become the one versus an enemy,” KCNA said.
As a primary step, at noon on Tuesday, North Korea will close lines of communication at an inter-Korean intermediary workplace, and hotlines in between the two militaries and governmental offices, it said.
On Tuesday early morning, North Korean authorities did