On June 9, North Korea cut off all channels of communication between North and South Korea including the Cheong Wa Dae hotline. It also said it would “change projects concerning the South to ones against an enemy,” and labeled South Korea as an “enemy.” North Korea, which had criticized the South Korean authority’s response to the distribution of propaganda flyers, launched specific measures to sever inter-Korean relations and even warned of future military action. The relationship between North and South Korea is now at a critical crossroad as the North threatens to annul the September 19 military agreement and the Panmunjom Declaration, in which the two Koreas agreed to cease all hostile activities.

This day, the Rodong Sinmun and the Korean Central News Agency released a report under the title, “On Severing All Communication Between the North and the South,” and announced, “From noon June 9, we will completely cut off and shut down all communication channels between North and South Korea including the one between North and South Korean authorities maintained through the inter-Korean liaison office, the East and West Sea communication channel between the militaries, and the direct hotline between the head office of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea and Cheong Wa Dae.”

In fact, this day inter-Korean communication channels including the one at the joint liaison office, the military line and the hotline between North and South Korean vessels were all blocked due to an absence of a response from the North. The hotline between Cheong Wa Dae and the State Affairs Commission of North Korea was also cut off two years after it was first installed. Two years and five months after inter-Korean communication channels were restored in January 2018 in an atmosphere of reconciliation, the Korean Peninsula is once again facing an age of non-communication.

According to the North Korean newspaper, on June 8, there was a meeting on state projects and departments overseeing projects with and on South Korea were present. First Deputy Director Kim Yo-jong and Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the party’s Central Committee gave instructions to sever communication at this meeting. The newspaper conveyed the words of the first deputy director and the vice chairman, saying “They emphasized that all work concerning the South should be thoroughly adjusted into one against an enemy and reviewed a phased enemy project plan to accurately calculate the price that the trash should pay for its sins.”

This is the first time that North Korea has used the expression “enemy project” in connection to its relationship with the South. The newspaper further stated, “We have reached the conclusion that we no longer have any reason to face or any problems to discuss with the South Korean authorities,” and added that this was “a first-stage action to completely remove all contact spaces with South Korea and get rid of unnecessary matters.” As Kim Yo-jong had warned, the North suggested additional measures, such as the shut down of the inter-Korean liaison office, the complete withdrawal of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, and the annulment of the September 19 military agreement.

Now that the North has defined inter-Korean relations as a “hostile relationship,” there is also the possibility of the North annulling the military agreement and engaging in a demonstration of military power against the South.

The South Korean government repeatedly stressed the need to abide by inter-Korean agreements. This day, an official from the Ministry of Unification met with the press and said, “Inter-Korean communication channels are a basic means for communication, so they should be maintained according to the agreement between the two Koreas,” and added, “The government will abide by the inter-Korean agreement and work to bring peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula.”