The North Korean leader's powerful sister said on Thursday that the country has never taken down propaganda loudspeakers and will not do so, calling South Korea's belief that Pyongyang was responding to its peace overtures a "pipedream.

In response to the North's alleged removal of the speakers, liberal South Korean President Lee Jae Myung voiced hopes of "reopening dialogue and communications" between the two rivalled countries. The North's response, however, was a cold shoulder.