North Korea pulls out from non-aggression agreements with South

The administration of North Korea announced on March 8th that it was pulling out from non-aggression agreements with South Korea. In addition, North Korea intends to terminate the joint declaration on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. To crown it all, DPRK officials said that they would interrupt direct telephone service between the two countries, AFP reports. 

The statement from the Committee on the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland was transmitted by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The demarche from the North Korean authorities followed in a few hours after the UN Security Council approved new tough sanctions against Pyongyang.

A high-ranking South Korean defense official has recently said that South Korea was ready to strike a blow on the "source of aggression and command forces" should North Korea "commit a provocation" and threaten the lives and safety of the people of South Korea. Earlier, the government of North Korea promised to pull out from the armistice agreement on March 11.

The sanctions, approved unanimously by the Security Council, imply severe restrictions on the transfer of funds from the DPRK. In addition, the "black list" of the UN was expanded with three individuals and two organizations from North Korea. The tough measures were taken after the DPRK launched a missile in December and conducted nuclear tests in February, ignoring the earlier UN sanctions.