Pyongyang renews threat to close its liaison office with Seoul

SANAA, June 6 (YPA) – North Korea on Friday renewed its threat to close its liaison office with the South and to inflict pain on its neighbor if Seoul did not prevent activists from sending leaflets to the other side of the border.
According to “Agence France-Presse”, a spokesman for the United Front North Department, which is concerned with inter-Korean relations, said in a statement published by the official news agency also, “In the first procedure, we will finally withdraw the un activated joint office for the link between the North and South”, whose activities have been suspended since the beginning of the Covid epidemic – 19.

He added that the closure of the office may be followed by “various measures”, explaining that “we are about to start procedures that could injure the southern side soon to hurt it.”

The warning is the second in two days in an atmosphere of intense cooling in ties after hopes raised by three summits between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in in 2018.

On Thursday, the official North Korean News Agency released the first statement released by Kim Yoo-jung, Kim Jong-un’s younger sister.

In the statement, Kim threatened to close the liaison office and cancel the military agreement signed during Moon’s visit to Pyongyang in 2018, with the goal of reducing tension on the border.

South Korean officials have said they are pressing for the adoption of a law banning activities related to sending leaflets.

A South Korean presidential office official said the publications campaign “is doing more harm than good.”