New episode of increased tensions between North and South Korea: the North Korean army destroyed with explosives, on Tuesday, October 15, sections of roads formerly used for cross-border trade with South Korea, according to Seoul.
“North Korea blew up parts of roads in Gyeongui and Donghae, north of the military demarcation line”South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, using the official name of the inter-Korean border. In response, South Korean forces carried out “return fire” in its own territory, he added, without further details.
The North Korean military warned on October 9 that it would cut ” definitely “ the highly symbolic road and railway axes that connect the two countries, and the construction “strong defensive structures” along the border. In practice, the border between the two Koreas is already completely closed. Since the end of the war in 1953, the two inter-Korean highways and railway lines have only been reopened during brief periods of relaxation.
In June 2020, North Korea had already dynamited an Inter-Korean Liaison Office opened in 2018, while relations between Seoul and Pyongyang were experiencing one of these temporary improvements, in Kaesong, a few kilometers north of the border.
Tightening of Kim Jong-un’s policy
The destruction of these disused roads is a new illustration of the hardening of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s policy towards South Korea, which he has designated as “the main enemy” of his country.
In January, Kim also ordered the dissolution of all institutions responsible for relations with Seoul and Korea’s reunification plans and threatened to go to war over any violation of his territory. “even if it is only 0.001 millimeter”.
Relations between the two Koreas have deteriorated considerably since conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol came to power in Seoul in 2022, favoring a firm policy towards the North and a strengthening of the military alliance with the United States and Japan. The three allies periodically hold joint military exercises that Pyongyang considers dress rehearsals for an invasion of the North.
According to North Korean state media, Kim Jong-un chaired a meeting of the country’s top military officials on Monday and outlined the lines of a “immediate military action”. This meeting came as the North Korean regime complains about several drone flights that it says have dropped propaganda-filled leaflets over the capital. “inflammatory rumors and nonsense” and accuses Seoul of being responsible. Pyongyang warned on Sunday that it would consider installing one more drone “a declaration of war”.
drone infiltrations
South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun denied any involvement, ahead of a clarification from South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff which stated “Unable to confirm whether North Korea’s accusations were true or not”. Local speculation points to militant groups in South Korea that have a history of sending propaganda and dollars north, usually in balloons but sometimes also using small, hard-to-detect drones.
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Since May, North Korea has sent thousands of garbage-laden balloons southward, prompting Seoul to resume its propaganda broadcasts over loudspeakers along the border and suspend an agreement signed in 2018 aimed at avoiding clashes. military.
In late 2022, five North Korean drones entered the South’s airspace, the first such incident in five years, paralyzing air traffic at Seoul International Airport. The South Korean army launched fighter jets, which failed to shoot down any drones. In July, Seoul announced the deployment, before the end of the year, of laser systems capable of melting drones in mid-flight.
After Monday’s senior officials’ meeting in Pyongyang, “Attention is focused on whether North Korea will respond by sending drones to the south or will crack down if drones infiltrate its territory again”explains Cheong Seong-chang, researcher at the Sejong Institute, to Agence France-Presse (AFP). “North Korea is likely to engage in major provocations along the border if drone infiltrations are repeated”he predicted.
