Editing North Korea–South Korea relations (section)

===2020===
On 9 June 2020, North Korea began cutting off all of its communication lines with South Korea. This came after Pyongyang had repeatedly warned Seoul regarding matters such as the failure of the South to stop North Korean expatriate activists from sending anti-regime propaganda leaflets across the border. The [[Korean Central News Agency]] described it as "the first step of the determination to completely shut down all contact means with South Korea and get rid of unnecessary things".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://time.com/5850431/north-korea-cuts-communication-leaflets/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609051842/https://time.com/5850431/north-korea-cuts-communication-leaflets/|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 June 2020|title=North Korea Says It Is Cutting Communication Ties With the South Over Anti-Kim Leaflets|magazine=Time|date=8 June 2020|access-date=13 June 2020}}</ref> The sister of Kim Jong Un, Kim Yo Jong, as well as the Vice Chair of the Central Committee of the ruling [[Workers' Party of Korea]], [[Kim Yong-chol|Kim Yong Chol]], stated that North Korea had begun to treat South Korea as its enemy.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-southkorea/north-korea-says-it-will-sever-hotlines-with-south-korea-kcna-idUSKBN23F2UG|title=North Korea to sever hotlines with South Korea in first step to cut contact|work=[[Reuters]]|date=8 June 2020|access-date=13 June 2020}}</ref> A week prior to these actions, Kim Yo Jong had called North Korean defectors "human scum" and "mongrel dogs". The severing of communication lines substantially diminished the agreements that were made in 2018.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/north-korea-cutting-communication-channels-south-korea/|title=North Korea cuts communication channels with South as tension mounts|work=[[CBS News]]|date=9 June 2020|access-date=13 June 2020}}</ref>

On 13 June, Kim Yo Jong warned that "before long, a tragic scene of the useless North-South joint liaison office completely collapsed would be seen." On 16 June, the North threatened to return troops that had been withdrawn from the border to posts where they had been previously stationed. Later that day, the joint liaison office in Kaesong was blown up by the North Korean government. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the South Korean delegation had departed from the building in January.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/16/world/asia/north-korea-explosion-liaison-office.html North Korea Blows Up Liaison Office Shared With South Korea], ''[[The New York Times]]'', Choe Sang-hun, 16 June 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.</ref> On 5 June 2020, the North Korean foreign minister [[Ri Son-gwon|Ri Son Gwon]] said that prospects for peace between North and South Korea, and the U.S., had "faded away into a dark nightmare".<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/world/asia/korea-nuclear-trump-kim.html Two Years After Trump-Kim Meeting, Little to Show for Personal Diplomacy], ''[[The New York Times]]'', David E. Sanger and Choe Sang-hun, 12 June 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.</ref> On 21 June 2020, South Korea urged North Korea to not send propaganda leaflets across the border. The request followed the North's statement that it was ready to send 12 million leaflets, which could potentially become the largest psychological campaign against South Korea.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/b0d2d82dbcbe823f49d4e4d8fa5e432a|title= S Korea urges North not to send leaflets amid high tensions |access-date=21 June 2020|work=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>

On 14 December 2020, the South Korean parliament passed a law which criminalized the launching of propaganda leaflets into North Korea.<ref name=propagandaban>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-southkorea/south-korea-bans-anti-north-leaflets-defector-says-he-wont-stop-idUSKBN28O1OI|title=South Korea bans anti-North leaflets; defector says he won't stop|first=Hyonhee|last=Shin|publisher=[[Reuters]]|date=14 December 2020|access-date=16 April 2021}}</ref> This ban applies to not only the large amount of balloon propaganda leaflets which have been sent into North Korea over the years, but also leaflets that have been sent in bottles in rivers which run along the Korean border.<ref name=propagandaban /> Violators of the law, which went into effect three months after it was approved,<ref name=propagandaban /> face up to three years in prison or 30 million won ($27,400) in fines.<ref name=propagandaban />