North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits a local industrial factory in Gimhwa-gun, North Korea, February 7, 2024, in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly has voted to scrap all agreements signed with South Korea on promoting economic cooperation, the North’s official KCNA news agency reported on Thursday, February 8, 2024, as the two Koreas’ relations continue to deteriorate sharply.
The assembly, which takes formal steps to adopt policy dictated by the ruling Workers’ Party, also voted to abolish laws governing economic ties with Seoul, including the special law on the operation of the Mount Kumgang tourism project.
The tours to the scenic mountain just north of the eastern border were a symbol of an economic cooperation that began during a period of engagement between the two Koreas in early 2000s, drawing nearly 2 million South Korean visitors.
The project was suspended in 2008 after a South Korean tourist who strayed into a restricted zone was shot and killed by North Korean guards.
North Korea has said it now considers the South as an enemy at war and last year scrapped a military pact signed in 2018 aimed at de-escalating tension near the military border drawn up under a truce ending the 1950-53 Korean War.
KCNA separately reported that leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday toured factories producing consumer goods and food, and gave guidance on modernizing the facilities as part of implementing a new regional development policy.
