North Korea blows up parts of inter-Korean roads as tensions with South Korea soar

North Korea has blown up parts of the northern section of inter-Korean roads, a TV screen reports during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, on October 15, 2024. Photo Credit: AP

North Korea on Tuesday (Oct 15, 2024) blew up northern sections of inter-Korean roads that are no longer in use, South Korea said, as the rivals remain embroiled in escalating hostility over North Korea’s claim that the South Korea has flown drones over its capital Pyongyang. ,

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a brief statement that North Korea blasted parts of the road on Tuesday.

It said that South Korea’s military is increasing its readiness and surveillance, but did not provide further information.

The blasts came a day after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called a meeting with his top military and security officials. During the meeting, Mr Kim described the alleged South Korean drone flights as a “serious provocation of the enemy” and unspecified “immediate military action” to defend the country’s sovereignty, the North and its “deterrence” operations. Tasks put forward. State media first reported on Tuesday.

North Korea had previously placed frontline artillery and other army units on standby to launch attacks on South Korea if South Korean drones were again detected in North Korea. South Korea has refused to confirm whether it sent the drones, but has warned that it will punish North Korea severely if the safety of its citizens is threatened.

The destruction of the roads is in line with leader Kim Jong Un’s effort to sever ties with South Korea, formally cementing it as his country’s major enemy and abandoning the North’s decades-old aim to seek peaceful Korean unification. will be.

During the previous era of inter-Korean detente in the 2000s, the two Koreas reconnected two road routes and two rail tracks along their heavily fortified border. But later their operations were suspended one by one due to the Koreas’ feud over North Korea’s nuclear program and other issues.

Last week, North Korea said it would permanently block its border with South Korea and build front-line defense formations to deal with “confrontational frenzy” by South Korean and US forces. South Korean officials said North Korea has been erecting anti-tank barriers and laying mines along the border since the beginning of the year. North Korea has also installed mine removal lamps on its sections of inter-Korean roads and removed ties on the northern section of the railway, he said.