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North Korean women protest the launches of balloons containing anti-North propaganda across the inter-Korean border by North Korean defector groups in South Hwanghae Province on June 10. (Rodong Sinmun/Yonhap news)

Kwon Jong-gun, director general of the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s Department of US Affairs, warned that the US “had better hold its tongue and mind its internal affairs first if it doesn't want to experience horrible thing,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on June 11.

Kwon’s remarks came in response to a “question raised by KCNA on Thursday over the recent obtrusive moves of the US to interfere in the inter-Korean relations.”

“It would be good not only for the US interests but also for the easy holding of upcoming presidential election,” he was quoted as saying.

The remarks were in reference to comments shared by a State Department official in response to the decision by North Korean authorities to cut off all hotlines with Seoul over the propaganda balloon launches across the border.

“We are disappointed in the DPRK's recent actions,” the unnamed official was quoted as saying. “We urge the DPRK to return to diplomacy and cooperation.” While the comments included much of the characteristically coarse language used by Pyongyang, the response could be characterized as minor in terms of the person responsible for the remarks and their content.

“No one is entitled to say this or that about the inter-Korean relations as the relations pertain to the internal affairs of the Korean nation from A to Z,” Kwon said.

“If the US pokes its nose into others' affairs with careless remarks, far from minding its internal affairs, at a time when its political situation is in the worst-ever confusion, it may encounter an unpleasant thing hard to deal with,” he warned

“How can the ‘disappointment’ touted by the US be compared with the extreme dismay and resentment we are feeling at the US and the south Korean authorities that have repeated betrayal and provocation for the last 2 years?” he also asked.

“Disgusting is the double-dealing attitudes of the US that feels uneasy over any sign of the improvement in the inter-Korean relations and pretends to get very anxious if the relations get worse,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper published a front-page commentary piece titled “The dignity of our supreme leadership is the lifeblood and mental pillar of our people.” In it, the newspaper said that the “scattering of anti-DPRK leaflets committed by human scum in the forefront areas to hurt the dignity of our supreme leadership with the south Korean authorities’ connivance is an intolerable insult on our people.” It went on to warn that the “enemies” will “experience due punishment for their despicable act,” even if it results in the collapse of inter-Korean relations.

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer

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