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North Korea “will completely cut and close the North-South link [Korėjų] officials who was supported through the common north and south [Korėjų] and other lines of communication “from June 9 at 12 noon” (local time, 6 am Lithuanian time), the KCNA news agency reported.
Among other things, the military lines of communication and the line between the ruling North Korean Workers’ Party and the South Korean presidency are being closed.
According to analysts, the measure aims to trigger a crisis in the divided peninsula.
Pyongyang has recently threatened to close its Seoul liaison office in protest of the balloons flying across the border by South Korean activists and North Korean refugees who criticize the Pyongyang regime.
North Korean officials across the country have staged large-scale protests in support of their threats. Relations between the two Koreans have been stalled for months, despite three meetings in 2018 between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
The direct impact of North Korea’s decision will be limited, as Pyongyang has had almost no contact with Seoul for several months, except for test calls and some other talks.
The decision was made three days before the important second anniversary of the meeting between Kim Jong Un and the President of the United States, Donald Trump, in Singapore.
Negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear program have stalled since last year, when a second meeting between the two in Hanoi collapsed without an agreement on what Pyongyang could reject in exchange for easing sanctions.
Pyongyang is increasingly frustrated by the lack of concessions, and analysts say it has not taken substantial steps to abandon its weapons.
In recent months, Pyongyang has become increasingly angry with Seoul instead of Washington, carrying out a series of weapons tests and other provocations, including the shooting of North and South Korea last month in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of the Peninsula.
The decision to cut the lines of communication was made by Kim Jo Uno, an influential sister and adviser to Kim Yo Jong, and Kim Yong Chol, vice president of the ruling party, KCNA reported. This shows the growing role of the sister of the government leader in the country.
Last week, Kim Yo Jong threatened Pyongyang to terminate a military agreement signed by the two Koreas in 2018 to reduce tensions on the Korean peninsula and close a liaison office that had been suspended for several months due to a coronavirus outbreak. .
North Korea did not answer a call from South Korea on Tuesday morning, Seoul said.
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