Politics

Pyongyang warns US to ‘hold its tongue’ if it wants smooth election

Seoul, June 11 (efe-epa).- North Korea on Thursday warned the United States to “hold its tongue” on inter-Korean affairs if it wants to hold a smooth presidential election in November.

The message published by state news agency KCNA from Kwon Jong-gun, director general of the Department of US Affairs of North Korea’s foreign ministry, came after Washington said it was disappointed by Pyongyang’s decision earlier this week to cut all lines of communication with Seoul.

“If the US pokes its nose into others’ affairs with careless remarks, far from minding its internal affairs, at a time when its political situation is in the worst-ever confusion, it may encounter an unpleasant thing hard to deal with,” Kwon said.

He said the US Department of State’s remarks, which also urged a return to diplomacy and cooperation, were “useless” and “indeed, ridiculous.”

“The US had better hold its tongue and mind its internal affairs first if it doesn’t want to experience horrible thing,” the message said.

“It would be good not only for the US interests but also for the easy holding of upcoming presidential election,” it warned.

It is unclear what the “horrible thing” would be, nor how it would cause problems for President Donald Trump’s re-election bid.

The Pyongyang government announced on Tuesday its decision to cut its lines of communication with South Korea in an apparent response to activists sending anti-propaganda leaflets by balloon across the border into the North.

“The relevant field of our side will completely cut off and shut down the liaison line between the authorities of the north and the south, which has been maintained through the north-south joint liaison office, the East and West Seas communication lines between the militaries of the north and the south, the inter-Korean trial communication line and the hotline between the office building of the Central Committee of the WPK and the Chongwadae from 12:00 [03:00 GMT] on June 9, 2020,” KCNA said.

This move “is the first step of the determination to completely shut down all contact means with South Korea and get rid of unnecessary things,” it said after a meeting between the vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, Kim Yong-chol, and the sister of the North Korean dictator, Kim Yo-jong.

The cutting off of communications comes at a time when inter-Korean relations remain frozen.

Over the past months, North Korea has decided to cool its relationship with the South, a US ally, due to the lack of agreement during the failed summit on denuclearization that took place in Hanoi in February 2019, in which Washington rejected the North Korean offer on disarmament, considering it not enough. EFE-EPA

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