North Korea Says It Will Abolish Liaison Office With South Korea

(Bloomberg) -- North Korea said it will take measures against South Korea that leader Kim Jong Un’s younger sister had warned of, including the shutdown of a liaison office set up in 2018.

The state will “absolutely abolish” the office, the official Korean Central News Agency said, citing a spokesman for a panel of the state’s central party. It also condemned as an “empty wild dream” those who had interpreted Kim Yo Jong’s earlier warning as an invitation for dialogue.

The younger Kim had slammed North Korean defectors on Thursday for sending propaganda balloons from South Korea over the demilitarized zone. The balloons typically carry packets of rice, Bibles and pamphlets promoting democracy and capitalism.

North Korea Threatens to Scrap Military Pact Over Leaflets: KCNA

Rachel Minyoung Lee, a former U.S. government intelligence analyst of open-source information on North Korea, said in a tweet that the latest statement indicates that she will be taking charge of inter-Korean affairs.

In a separate report, North Korea’s foreign minister Ri Son Gwon expressed support for China’s measures on Hong Kong, according to KCNA. In a meeting with China’s ambassador to North Korea, Li Jinjun, Ri said, “The issue of Hong Kong is an internal affair of the People’s Republic of China.”

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