N. KOREA CUTS ALL COMMUNICATION WITH S. KOREA

[Anchor Lead]

North Korea cut off all communication lines with South Korea on Tuesday. The regime had threatened to retaliate against leaflet campaigns carried out by North Korean defectors in the South, and it appears to have taken the first measure.

[Pkg]

North Korean state media strongly criticized North Korean defectors flying anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border and the South Korean government for not stopping the campaign.

[Soundbite] (PYONGYANG CITIZEN) : "They have insulted the supreme leader, our spiritual pillar. How dare they. This can't be tolerated, by no means."

A tirade of attacks and threats continued for the 6th day and North Korea implemented its very first retaliatory measure. It cut off all communication lines between the two Koreas.

[Soundbite] (KOREAN CENTRAL TV) : "The latest measure is the first step in our action to eliminate anything unnecessary and any space of contact with S. Korea."

Hotlines that were maintained since the 2018 inter-Korean summit have all been severed for the first time in nearly two and a half years. The North also said that inter-Korean initiatives will now shift focus as the South will be viewed as an enemy. It made clear that the use of the label enemy was an order from Kim Yo-jong, Kim Jong-un's sister, and that it reflects the leader's own mind.

[Soundbite] (KOREAN CENTRAL TV) : "The North has reached the conclusion that there is no longer any reason to sit down with S. Korean authorities for talks as the South has only caused complete disillusionment."

In a statement last Thursday issued by Kim Yo-jong, Pyongyang threatened to take a series of measures in protest of the leaflet campaign, and the communication cutoff is considered the first threat put in action. South Korea has stressed that cross-border lines are the basic means of communication and they must be maintained in accordance with the two Koreas' agreement.