North Korea on Tuesday blew up sections of the deeply-symbolic roads connecting it to the South, Seoul’s military said, days after Pyongyang vowed to permanently seal off its southern border.
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Since leader Kim Jong-un declared the South his country’s “principal enemy” earlier this year, the North has laid fresh mines, erected anti-tank barriers, and deployed missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads along the already heavily fortified border.
Last week, North Korea accused Seoul of using drones to drop anti-regime propaganda leaflets on the capital Pyongyang, with Kim convening a security meeting to direct a plan of “immediate military action” in response, state media reported Tuesday.
“North Korean has detonated parts of the Gyeongui and Donghae roads north of the Military Demarcation Line,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Tuesday, referring to inter-Korean infrastructure that once connected the two countries.
The roads and railways have long been closed, but destroying them sends a clear message that Kim is not prepared to negotiate with South Korea, experts said.
“This is a practical military measure related to the hostile dual-state system that North Korea has frequently mentioned,” said Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.