North Korea cuts off communication channel with the US

Pyongyang announced today its intention to cut off communication channels with Washington and severely punish detained US citizens, in protest at sanctions against leader Kim Jong-un.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Photo: KCNA

North Korea's Foreign Ministry has informed the US government that it will suspend all communications with Washington through the North's office at the United Nations in New York, KCNA reported today. "We have just notified the US that we will completely stop all official communications through New York," the ministry said.

Washington last week blacklisted leader Kim and 10 other top North Korean officials for human rights abuses for the first time. North Korea denounced the US action as a declaration of war.

The United States has no diplomatic relations with North Korea, but North Korea's mission to the United Nations, known as the "New York channel," is used as the main means of communication between the two countries.

North Korea's state news agency also said today that the country will handle the captured Americans under martial law. Pyongyang is currently holding two American citizens, Kim Dong-chul, 62, and Otto Warmbier, a university student. Both were sentenced to years of hard labor for being

"North Korea has informed the United States that it needs to take responsibility for any catastrophic events that may occur," the agency reported.

According to VNE