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North Korea to cut hotlines with South amid Kaesong shutdown | |
(about 3 hours later) | |
North Korea has vowed to cut two crucial communication hotlines with the South, and says the Kaesong industrial park is now a military zone. | |
It comes after Seoul suspended its operations at the jointly-run Kaesong complex in the North, in protest over Pyongyang's recent rocket launch. | |
Kaesong is one of the last points of co-operation between the two Koreas and a key source of revenue for Pyongyang. | |
The North has called the shutdown "a declaration of war". | |
Seoul says the suspension is aimed at cutting off money the North uses for nuclear and missile development. | |
Tensions between the two Koreas has been high following Pyongyang's nuclear test last month and its launching of a satellite on Sunday. | |
North Korea previously cut communication hotlines with the South in 2013, but reopened them after relations improved. | |
The hotlines, which are intended to defuse dangerous military situations, include a hotline used by the military, and another line used to communicate with the UN Command at Panmunjom in the Demilitarised Zone. A third hotline is used by the Red Cross. | |
'Tit-for-tat' | |
On Thursday, Pyongyang vowed to immediately expel South Korean workers from Kaesong, and seize the assets of companies working there. | |
However, South Korean companies had already started withdrawing managers, equipment and stock, after Seoul announced the suspension. | |
The two sides are now in a tit-for-tat escalation of measures against each other, the BBC's Korea correspondent Steve Evans reports. | |
Some of the managers from the South told the BBC they were shocked and frustrated by the suddenness with which their businesses in the North had had to cease production. | |
What is Kaesong? | |
What is the Kaesong Industrial Complex | |
Why did North launch long-range rocket? | |
How advanced is North's nuclear programme? | |
The current shutdown came as the US Senate voted unanimously in favour of tougher sanctions against North Korea. | The current shutdown came as the US Senate voted unanimously in favour of tougher sanctions against North Korea. |
The draft legislation targets any person or entity trading or financing anything related to weapons of mass destruction, conventional arms proliferation, North Korea's rocket programme, money laundering, narcotics trafficking, human rights abuses, activities that threaten US cyber security, and the import of luxury goods. | The draft legislation targets any person or entity trading or financing anything related to weapons of mass destruction, conventional arms proliferation, North Korea's rocket programme, money laundering, narcotics trafficking, human rights abuses, activities that threaten US cyber security, and the import of luxury goods. |
All were already sanctioned, but the measures aim to tighten the restrictions. | All were already sanctioned, but the measures aim to tighten the restrictions. |
The bill also authorises $50m (£34m) for radio broadcasts into North Korea and humanitarian aid programmes. | |
The House of Representatives passed a similar bill last month. The two will now have to be reconciled into a final measure needing President Barack Obama's sign-off. | The House of Representatives passed a similar bill last month. The two will now have to be reconciled into a final measure needing President Barack Obama's sign-off. |