North Korea destroyed several sections of roads connecting its territory to the South on Tuesday, according to the South Korean army, after Pyongyang announced it would cut all transport routes to the neighboring country. “North Korea blew up part of the Gyeongui and Donghae roads on the military demarcation line around noon,” the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement.
Last week, Pyongyang announced plans to cut roads and railways connecting the South and fortify these areas, in response to a recently approved constitutional amendment in which national borders would have been redefined unilaterally on the orders of leader Kim Jong-un. The JCS indicated that it was “strengthening its surveillance and alert posture” in the face of movements in the North.
Pyongyang’s cutting of transport routes comes at a time of growing tensions on the peninsula, due to North Korean accusations that the South sent propaganda-laden drones into its territory and threats to retaliate with missile fire. artillery if similar incidents occurred.
On the 9th, North Korea announced that it was preparing to “completely cut off connected roads and railways” and build “strong defense structures” in areas near the border, in response to military maneuvers from the southern country and the United States. . The hermetic country justified this decision as a permanent blockade with the South, “the main hostile and enemy state”and how a “self-defense measure to prevent war and defend national security”.
The announcement coincided with the conclusion of a parliamentary session during which the regime amended its Constitution and in which the leader’s instruction to declare the South the principal national enemy was reportedly included. The Gyeongui road and rail corridor connects the South Korean border city of Paju in the west with the North Korean city of Kaesong. Donghae, meanwhile, crosses the divide between North and South along the east coast.
