Inter-Korean liaison communication operating normally after N.K. threats

SEOUL, June 5 (Yonhap) -- Liaison communication between South and North Korea remains in normal operation, the unification ministry said Friday, a day after the North threatened to shut down a joint liaison office in protest of anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent from the South.

Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, issued the warning, saying the North could scrap a military tension reduction agreement, shut down the liaison office in the border city of Kaesong and dismantle a joint factory park unless Seoul stops activists from sending propaganda leaflets across the border.

Despite the threat, however, liaison communication has not been affected, the ministry said.

"Communication between the South and the North have been carried out ordinarily as usual," a ministry official said.

Earlier this year, the two Koreas suspended the operation of the liaison office to control the spread of the coronavirus. They, instead, opened new telephone and fax lines between Seoul and Pyongyang through which they usually communicate twice a day mostly to ensure their normal operation.

After the North's threats this week, South Korea said it will take legislative measures to ban such activity, saying it could cause a danger to lives and property of people living in border regions from which leaflet-carrying balloons are usually flown.

kokobj@yna.co.kr
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