The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said on Sunday that South Korea will have to pay a "dear price" for sending propaganda leaflets across the border the previous day.
The United States toughened sanctions following North Korea’s provocative run of nuclear and missile tests in 2016-17
Kim Yo Jong’s blunt statement indicates that the diplomatic impasse over North Korea’s nuclear program is likely to continue unless the North suffers greater pandemic-related economic difficulties and needs urgent outside assistance
Pyongyang insists that it needs its nuclear arsenal to deter against a possible US invasion.
A spokesman for the general staff of the North Korean People’s Army said troops would be sent to “resume all kinds of regular military exercises” at the two sites. Both projects have been closed for several years, but were once symbols of inter-Korean unity that many hoped would be strengthened as cross-border ties improved.
The two zones are sites of long-shuttered joint inter-Korean projects: Southern tourists visited the scenic Mount Kumgang until a North Korean soldier in 2008 shot dead a woman who strayed off the path.
Kim Yo Jong said that "the right to taking the next action against the enemy will be entrusted to the General Staff of our army.
Meanwhile, North Korea on Thursday warned the US not to meddle in inter-Korean relations if it wants to avoid experiencing an unspecified 'hair-raiser' and hold November's presidential election smoothly.
Kim attended the completion of a fertiliser plant, North Korea's official media said on Saturday, the first report of his appearing in public since April 11.
Last week, the North Korean leader was gravely ill following heart surgery.
