North Korea has detonated parts of roads linking it to South Korea in a move that is assumed to be aiming at cutting off roads and railways between the two countries, Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday, citing South Korea’s military.
In a text message to reporters, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, “The North Korean military conducted detonations, assumed to be aimed at cutting off the Gyeongui and Donghae roads, at around noon and is carrying out additional activities using heavy equipment.”
South Korea’s JCS said that South Korea’s military did not face any damage and added that it responded by firing shots south of the Military Demarcation Line.
It further said, “The military is closely monitoring the North Korean military’s activities and maintains a firm readiness posture amid strengthened surveillance under South Korea-US cooperation.”
Pyongyang’s action comes a week after North Korea’s military announced a plan to “completely separate” North Korea’s territory from South Korea. The North Korean military said that it had informed the US military of the move to “prevent any misjudgment and accidental conflict.”
The two nations are connected by roads and railways along the Gyeongui Line, which connects South Korea’s western border city of Paju to North Korea’s Kaesong, and the Donghae Line along the east coast.
North Korea’s action came as it has been ramping up inter-Korean tensions and removing traces of unification after its leader Kim Jong-un called the Koreas “two hostile states” in 2023, with the country taking measures to dismantle inter-Korean land routes.
Since then, North Korea has removed street lamps and installed mines along its side of the Gyeongui and Donghae roads and deployed soldiers to make apparent anti-tank barriers and reinforce barbed wire within its side of the Demilitarized Zone separating the two nations.
Last week, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Kim Myung-soo told lawmakers that the Gyeongui and Donghae routes had been cut off in August. He further said that South Korea’s military had been monitoring the activities of North Korea, according to Yonhap News Agency report.
Tensions between the two nations further increased after North Korea last week claimed that South Korea had sent drones over Pyongyang three times in July.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, warned of a “horrible disaster” if South Korean drones are flown again over Pyongyang, Yonhap News Agency reported.
South Korea has not reacted to the claims made by North Korea and warned that Pyongyang will see “the end of its regime” if it causes any harm to South Koreans.
Earlier in 2020, North Korea blew up the inter-Korean joint liaison office in its border town of Kaesong after lashing out at South Korea for its inability to stop North Korean defectors in South Korea from sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border through balloons.
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