North Korea cuts all communications with 'disgusting riff-raff' South

North Korea will cut all lines of communication with South Korea from noon on Tuesday, state media has reported, as Pyongyang ratchets up the pressure on Seoul to stop defectors and human rights activists from sending balloons carrying propaganda leaflets into the North. South Korea announced on Friday that it would pass new legislation to stop the releases, just hours after North Korea had initially protested, but Pyongyang has continued to press its demands. State media has released images of clenched-fist students and workers protesting against “human scum” for “slandering the supreme leadership” of North Korea, insisting that it is “necessary to mercilessly punish the defectors to the last man”. At a student demonstration over the weekend, thousands of young protesters declared that they would “prepare themselves to be human bombs for the party”. On Monday, Pyongyang warned that it would shut down the inter-Korean liaison office on the border and halt other programmes designed to promote cross-border exchanges and reduce military tensions. Reports from the Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday stepped up Pyongyang’s demands, accusing the “disgusting riff-raff” of hostile acts against the North “by taking advantage of the South Korean authorities’ irresponsible stance”.

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