North Korea Scraps Economic Cooperation Agreements with South Korea

Amid escalating tensions between North and South Korea, North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly has voted to terminate all agreements related to economic cooperation with its southern neighbor, according to the official KCNA news agency. This move includes abolishing laws governing economic ties, such as the special law regulating the Mount Kumgang tourism project, which was once a symbol of inter-Korean economic collaboration, drawing millions of South Korean visitors.

The project was halted in 2008 after a South Korean tourist was fatally shot by North Korean guards. North Korea’s stance toward the South has become increasingly hostile, with the North viewing its southern neighbor as an enemy in a state of war. This decision comes after North Korea scrapped a military pact signed in 2018 aimed at reducing tensions along the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas, which was established following the armistice ending the Korean War.

Additionally, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently visited factories producing consumer goods and food, emphasizing the need to modernize these facilities as part of a new regional development policy.