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North Korea Halts Radio Broadcasts, Curbs Exchanges with South

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets with commanders of the Korean People's Army, at the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Party, in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency on January 1, 2024. (KCNA via Reuters)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets with commanders of the Korean People's Army, at the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Party, in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency on January 1, 2024. (KCNA via Reuters)
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North Korea Halts Radio Broadcasts, Curbs Exchanges with South

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets with commanders of the Korean People's Army, at the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Party, in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency on January 1, 2024. (KCNA via Reuters)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets with commanders of the Korean People's Army, at the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Party, in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency on January 1, 2024. (KCNA via Reuters)

North Korea stopped operating a radio station used to send coded messages to its agents in South Korea, the Yonhap news agency said on Saturday, the latest sign the isolated country is shaking up the way it handles relations with Seoul.

North Korea has been stepping up pressure on Seoul in recent weeks, declaring it the "principal enemy", saying the North will never reunite with the South and vowing to enhance its ability to deliver a nuclear strike on the US and America's allies in the Pacific.

Radio Pyongyang, known as a numbers station, in the past broadcast mysterious coded numbers presumed to be targeted at Pyongyang's spies operating in South Korea. Its website was also down on Saturday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, addressing a year-end meeting of his ruling party, ordered a "decisive policy change" in relations with the South, instructing the military to be prepared to pacify and occupy the South in the event of a crisis.

Early on Saturday, North Korea announced plans to dissolve organizations in charge of civilian exchanges with South Korea. State media KCNA reported a decision "to readjust all relevant organizations... including the North Side Committee for Implementing June 15 Joint Declaration, the North Headquarters of the Pan-national Alliance for Korea's Reunification".

North and South Korea remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, and tensions are running high.

Seoul-based news outlet NK News said on Friday several North Korean propaganda sites were inaccessible more than 24 hours after they went offline.

The websites of Uriminzokkiri, DPRK Today, Arirang Meari, Tongil Voice, Ryomyong and Ryugyong have been down since at least Thursday morning, it said.

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US Top Diplomat Rubio, China’s Wang Speak in First Phone Call, China Says

Newly confirmed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks next to his wife Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio at the State Department in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)
Newly confirmed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks next to his wife Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio at the State Department in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)
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US Top Diplomat Rubio, China’s Wang Speak in First Phone Call, China Says

Newly confirmed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks next to his wife Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio at the State Department in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)
Newly confirmed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks next to his wife Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio at the State Department in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi by phone on Friday, China's foreign ministry said, the first call between the two top diplomats since President Donald Trump's administration took office on Monday.

The call is the first publicly disclosed contact between an official in the second Trump administration and a Chinese counterpart.

According to a Chinese foreign ministry readout of the call, the two discussed US-China relations and Taiwan.

Wang told Rubio, a known China hawk, "I hope you would conduct yourself well and play a constructive role in the future of the Chinese and American people and in world peace and stability," according to the readout.

In his Senate confirmation hearing last week Rubio labeled China as the gravest threat facing the United States.

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the talks, which come days after Trump said on Wednesday he was considering a 10% duty on Chinese imports because of Beijing’s role in the fentanyl trade.

On Thursday, at a speech to the World Economic Forum, Trump said he was expecting to do "very well" and to get along with China, but his inner circle including Rubio have different views on how to deal with China.

Last week, Xi and Trump agreed on a phone call ahead of the latter's inauguration for a second term, to create a strategic communication channel on "major issues."

During his first term, Trump quickly struck up a relationship with Xi and both men lavishly hosted each other in Florida and Beijing. But that did not stop ties deteriorating into a trade war that unleashed a series of tit-for-tat tariffs and uprooted global supply chains.

According to China's Foreign Ministry, Wang told Rubio that heads of state and China had "pointed out the direction and established the tone for China-US relations."

"The teams of both sides should implement the important consensus of the two heads of state, maintain communication, manage differences, expand cooperation, promote the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-US relations, and find the right way for China and the United States to get along in the new era."

Wang also said that China has "no intention of surpassing or replacing anyone, but we must defend our legitimate right to development."

On Taiwan, he said that the island Taiwan has been part of China's territory since ancient times and China would never allow it to be separated from China.

"The United States has made a solemn commitment to pursue the one-China policy in the three Sino-US joint communiques and must not break its promise," Wang said.

"A major power should behave like a major power, should assume its due international responsibilities, should maintain world peace, and should help all countries achieve common development," he added, echoing statements US officials have made about China.