SEOUL — North Korea is severing all official communication links with the South, it announced on Tuesday.

Pyongyang "will completely cut off and shut down the liaison line" between North and South from noon on Tuesday, the official Korean Central News Agency said, along with military hotlines and a communication link between the headquarters of the North's ruling Workers' Party and the South's presidential office.

The decision was taken by Kim Yo Jong, the leader's sister and key adviser, and ruling party vice chairman Kim Yong Chol, KCNA said.

Last week she issued a statement threatening to scrap a military pact with the South and close a liaison office -- where activities have already been suspended for months due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Calls by the South to the North on the hotlines went unanswered on Tuesday morning, officials in Seoul said.

"This has driven the inter-Korean relations into a catastrophe," KCNA said.

"We have reached a conclusion that there is no need to sit face to face with the south Korean authorities and there is no issue to discuss with them". — AFP