This archive report was first published on 11 June 2020.
On June 11, 2020, North Korea rebuked Washington for criticizing its decision to cut communication links with Seoul, warning it to stay out of inter-Korean affairs if it wanted to ensure a smooth presidential election.
According to a statement carried by the KCNA news agency, a senior North Korean foreign ministry official slammed the "double-dealing attitudes" of the US as "disgusting".
Washington should "hold its tongue and mind its internal affairs first", said Kwon Jong Gun, director general of the Department of US Affairs, if it wanted to avoid experiencing a "hair-raiser" and ensure the "easy holding" of November's presidential vote.
The warning comes just a day before the two-year anniversary of the landmark summit in Singapore where Kim Jong-un shook hands with Donald Trump, becoming the first North Korean leader to meet a sitting US president.
North Korea has been frustrated over the lack of concessions in negotiations over its nuclear programme, which have been deadlocked since the collapse of a second Trump-Kim meeting in Hanoi last year.
Analysts say it has taken no substantive steps towards giving up its weapons, but the impasse has left Pyongyang increasingly turning its anger towards Seoul rather than Washington.
