DPRK decides to abolish agencies on inter-Korean affairs

SEOUL — The Democratic People's Republic of Korea decided on Monday to abolish its agencies handling inter-Korean affairs, the official Korean Central News Agency reported on Tuesday.

The Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK issued, during its session on Monday, the decision on abolishing the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, the National Economic Cooperation Bureau and the Kumgangsan International Tourism Administration, agencies designed to facilitate inter-Korean dialogue, negotiations and cooperation, the report said.

The decision was made on the grounds that "the reunification of Korea can never be achieved with the Republic of Korea which set it as its state policy to achieve the 'unification by absorption' and 'unification under liberal democracy'," according to the report.

"It is quite contrary to our national reunification line based on one nation, one state and two systems which we have adhered to for nearly 80 years," the report said.

"It is a serious anachronistic mistake to regard the ROK as a partner for reconciliation and reunification any longer as it declared the DPRK as a 'principal enemy' and is seeking only an opportunity for 'bringing down the government' and achieving 'unification by absorption', while keeping the uncontrollable crisis on the Korean Peninsula in collusion with outside forces."

In a speech to the Supreme People's Assembly, the DPRK's top leader Kim Jong-un said: "We should take strict stepwise measures to thoroughly block all the channels of north-south communication along the border."

Kim, also general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, said: "We do not want war, but we also have no intention of avoiding it."

The move comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula as the ROK's military exercises with the United States have intensified.

The Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country has been the DPRK's main agency in handling inter-Korean affairs since its establishment in 1961, The Associated Press reported.

Xinhua - Agencies