The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has dismissed South Korean claims that North Korea is removing loudspeakers along the inter-Korean border.

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],

North and South Korea have begun removing some loudspeakers that were used to broadcast propaganda across the demilitarized zone at the 38th parallel.