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DPRK threatens to cut official contact with U.S.

Xinhua, July 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Monday threatened to cut off one of its official contact channels with the United States, the first of its countermeasures against new sanctions imposed on the country's senior officials.

The DPRK on Sunday sent a message to the United States denouncing recent U.S. sanctions against Pyongyang, which "impaired the dignity of the supreme leadership" of the country, the state-run news agency KCNA reported.

Currently, the DPRK Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York acts as one of the few communication channels between Pyongyang and Washington, which the DPRK is threatening to close down.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un and other senior officials over alleged human rights abuses. It also slapped sanctions on 10 other individuals and five entities for their ties to the DPRK's alleged abuse.

The DPRK Foreign Ministry on Thursday urged the United States to withdraw the newly announced sanctions, saying they were an "open declaration of war against the DPRK."

The ministry also warned that the DPRK will eventually cut off all channels of diplomatic contact with the United States if the latter fails to withdraw the sanctions. Endi