North Korea’s announcement that it will sever all road and rail links with the South marks the first publicised military action to cut physical ties with what Pyongyang now considers a “principal enemy”, according to observers.
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The North’s military general staff made the declaration on Wednesday after a session of the Supreme People’s Assembly, North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament, which met on Monday and Tuesday to revise the constitution.
Details of the amendments remain undisclosed, but it is known to centre on defining inter-Korean relations and designating the maritime border in the Yellow Sea, a frequent site of clashes between the two sides.
The North will “fortify” its side of the border with “strong defence structures,” according to a report by the North Korean People’s Army, published by the Korean Central News Agency.
“For our army to permanently shut off and block the southern border with the ROK [South Korea], the primary hostile state and invariable principal enemy, in the current situation is a self-defensive measure for inhibiting war and defending the security of the DPRK [North Korea],” it said.
The North justified its actions by citing recent South Korean military exercises near the border, which it described as preparations for a “war of aggression”, as well as the deployment of US strategic nuclear assets in the region.