In this April 17, 2017 photo, soldiers of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, background, and a soldier of the Republic of Korea stand guard at the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Paju, the ROK. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)
PYONGYANG - Pyongyang on late Friday threatened to take "regretful and painful" retaliation against Seoul soon as their mutual trust had been "shattered" by the latter's failure to stop anti-Pyongyang leaflets from being sent into the North.
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Pyongyang dismissed Seoul's promise to stop "defectors" from sending balloons carrying leaflets as "lip service", reported the Korean Central News Agency
Pyongyang dismissed Seoul's promise to stop "defectors" from sending balloons carrying leaflets as "lip service", Jang Kum-chol, director of the United Front Department of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
"Their statement sounds like an apology or repentance, and their 'resolution to take counteraction' sounds plausible," Jang said. "But it is hard to clear the doubt that it can be just a brainstorm trick of Chongwadae (the presidential palace) to tide over the present crisis. Its attitude of repentance is too timid, when compared with the gravity of the crime committed."
In response to the DPRK's strong protest, the Republic of Korea (ROK)'s government has promised to deal strictly with activists' flying of anti-Pyongyang leaflets into the North and take legislative measures to ban the "hostile act" at the border area.
Jang said the ROK authorities were so far only "paying lip service," and "they have availed themselves of every chance to unleash spurious words while reading others' faces with hesitation."
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For the same reason, Pyongyang announced on Tuesday to cut off all inter-Korean communication lines. The joint liaison office set up in 2018 was shut down by the DPRK a few days earlier.
