The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Thursday denied Seoul's claim that the North had begun removing propaganda speakers inside the DMZ.

North Korea has "never removed" the speakers and "are not willing to remove them", Kim Yo Jong said in a statement published by state media KCNA on Thursday. "We have clarified on several occasions that we have no will to improve relations with [South Korea],

The North Korean leader's influential sister on Thursday rebuffed a recent reconciliatory overture by South Korea as a "pipedream," denying Seoul's military claim that the North has removed some propaganda loudspeakers targeting Seoul along the inter-Korean border.