SEOUL - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said on Thursday the United States had no standing to comment on inter-Korean affairs, and it is in Washington’s interest to stay quiet if it wants the upcoming presidential election to go smoothly, state media reported.

The statement comes after the US State Department said it was disappointed at DPRK for suspending communication hotlines with the Republic of Korea (ROK) on Tuesday.

The US should “hold its tongue” and address its own domestic problems unless it wants to “experience a hair-raiser,” Kwon Jong-gun, director-general for US affairs at DPRK’s Foreign Ministry, said

“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 Jong-gun, director-general for US affairs at DPRK’s Foreign Ministry, said in comments carried by state news agency KCNA.

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The US should “hold its tongue” and address its own domestic problems unless it wants to “experience a hair-raiser,” he said.

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

It is unclear what DPRK would do to disrupt the election or cause problems for US President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, said James Kim, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.

“If anything, there’s a chance that provocation may even rally the country around the incumbent,” he said.

After a series of historic summits in 2018 and 2019 between Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong-un, little progress has been made in dismantling the country's nuclear weapons programme, and Pyongyang has expressed increasing frustration with Washington’s refusal to ease sanctions.

DPRK said on Tuesday it would sever hotlines with ROK after days of lashing out at Seoul for not stopping defectors from sending leaflets and other material into its territory.

READ MORE: ROK seeks stop to anti-DPRK leaflets after DPRK complaint

On Wednesday, ROK said it would take legal action against two organizations that conduct such operations.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres regrets that DPRK has severed hotlines with ROK, warning that such channels "are necessary to avoid misunderstandings or miscalculations," a UN spokesman said on Wednesday.