UAE stops issuing visas for N. Korean labourers

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United Arab Emirates says it will stop issuing new visas to North Korean labourers, becoming the latest Gulf country to cut back on ties to Pyongyang amid tensions between North Korea and the U.S.

The announcement by the UAE Foreign Ministry on Thursday night did not address the thousands of North Korean labourers already working in the Emirates.

The announcement said that the UAE would pull its nonresident ambassador to North Korea as well.

The statement said the UAE “looks forward to a unified global front against North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile program.”