Ministry of Unification: "North Korea Did Not Answer Morning Calls at Liaison Office"... North Side Cuts All Inter-Korean Communication Lines Starting Today (Update)

From Noon on the 9th, Korean Central News Agency Reports Closure of Inter-Korean Communication Channel and Shift of South Korea-Related Affairs to 'Hostile Nature'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the morning of the 9th, the Ministry of Unification announced that the North did not answer the call to start work at the Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office.

A Ministry of Unification official stated, "This morning, the liaison office attempted to connect with the North as scheduled, but they did not answer." It was reported that North Korea would completely cut off and dismantle all communication lines connecting the two Koreas starting from noon on the 9th.

The North Korean state media, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), reported, "From 12:00 on June 9, 2020, the communication lines between the North and South authorities maintained through the Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office, the East-West Sea communication lines between the North and South military, the North-South communication test lines, and the direct communication line between the Workers' Party Central Committee headquarters and the Blue House will be completely cut off and dismantled."

The report stated that Kim Yo-jong, First Deputy Director of the Party, and Kim Yong-chol, Vice Chairman of the Party Central Committee, issued these instructions at the South Korea-related department’s business summary meeting on the 8th.

The report added that the two emphasized "the need to thoroughly convert South Korea-related work into anti-enemy work and reviewed phased anti-enemy work plans to accurately calculate the price paid by traitors and trash," and "first issued instructions to completely cut off all communication lines between the North and South."

The report criticized the South Korean government’s response to anti-North leaflets, stating, "The South Korean authorities have shirked their grave responsibilities under flimsy excuses, tolerating the anti-Republic hostile acts of trash, driving inter-Korean relations to a catastrophic end."

It continued, "Under the South Korean authorities’ irresponsible actions and tolerance, the vile trash carried out anti-Republic hostile acts, dared to attack the supreme dignity, mocked the sacred spiritual core of our entire people, and ultimately antagonized our entire people."

Earlier, North Korea had warned of severing inter-Korean relations through statements by Kim Yo-jong, First Deputy Director of the Workers' Party, on the 4th, and a spokesperson for the United Front Department on the 5th, criticizing the distribution of anti-North leaflets by defectors and the South Korean authorities’ response. On the morning of the 8th, the North did not respond to South Korea’s contact attempts via the Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office but showed some response in the afternoon.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.