2024-02-08T05:55:24+00:00
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/ The official Korean Central News Agency reported on Thursday that the Supreme People’s Assembly of North Korea voted to cancel all agreements signed with South Korea on enhancing economic cooperation, amid the continued sharp deterioration in relations between the two Koreas.
The council, which takes the formal steps to adopt policy dictated by the ruling Workers’ Party, voted to repeal laws regulating economic relations with Seoul, including a law on the operation of the Mount Kumgang tourism project.
Trips to the scenic mountain just north of the eastern border were a symbol of economic cooperation that began during inter-Korean engagement in the early 2000s, attracting nearly 2 million South Korean visitors.
The project was suspended in 2008 after a South Korean tourist who strayed into a restricted area was shot dead by North Korean guards.
North Korea says it now considers its southern neighbour an enemy in a state of war, and last year scrapped a military agreement signed in 2018 that was aimed at calming tensions near the military border set under an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
Separately, the agency reported that leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday toured factories producing consumer goods and food and gave instructions to develop the facilities as part of implementing a new regional policy.