Seoul’s military said North Korea on Tuesday blew up parts of deeply symbolic roads linking it to the South, and it launched a “retaliatory firing” campaign in response.
Pyongyang’s military last week vowed to permanently seal its southern border in the wake of leader Kim Jong Un declaring the South his country’s “major enemy.”
Last week, North Korea accused Seoul of using drones to drop anti-regime propaganda leaflets on the capital Pyongyang, in response to which Kim called a security meeting to direct planning for “immediate military action.” State media reported on Tuesday.
“The North Koreans have detonated explosives along parts of Gyeongui and Donghae roads north of the military demarcation line,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday, referring to inter-Korean infrastructure.
“There were no casualties and our forces returned fire in areas south of the MDL,” it said.
Experts said the roads have been closed for a long time, but destroying them sends a clear message that Kim is not ready to negotiate with the South.
“This is a practical military measure related to the hostile dual-state system that North Korea often refers to,” Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP.
Yang said North Korea may also be considering erecting more physical barriers along the border, and said the explosion on the road could be “preparatory work for building those walls.”
Drone?
Seoul’s military initially denied sending the drones to the North but later declined to comment, even as Pyongyang has directly blamed them, warning that if any other drones were found So she would consider it a “declaration of war”.
Activist groups have long been sending propaganda to the North, usually via balloons, and enthusiasts have also been known to fly small, difficult-to-detect drones over the North.
According to enthusiasts who spoke to local media, unlike traditional drones made of metal, the devices they used were constructed from expanded polypropylene, similar to Styrofoam, making them undetectable by South and North Korean authorities .
At Kim’s meeting on Monday, officials heard a report on “serious provocations by the enemy”, KCNA said, adding that Kim had “expressed a tough political and military stance”.
The North has said the United States, which has a military alliance with South Korea, should also be held responsible.
North Korea itself has sent drones southward – in 2022, five Pyongyang drones crossed the border, forcing the South Korean military to fire warning shots and deploy fighter jets.
The jets failed to shoot down any drone.
In July, Seoul said it would deploy drone-melting lasers this year, adding that the South’s ability to respond to provocations would “significantly increase”.
The new laser weapon — dubbed the “StarWars Project” in the South — shoots an invisible, silent beam that costs only 2,000 won ($1.45) per use, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.
Relations between the two Koreas are at their lowest in years, with the North’s military saying last week it would permanently demarcate the southern border by “completely cutting off” roads and railways linking the south and building “strong defense structures”. Will close it completely.
After Kim’s meeting in Pyongyang, “attention is focused on whether North Korea will respond by sending drones to the South or take stronger action if drones again intrude into its territory”, said Cheong Seong-chang of the Sejong Institute. Said.
“If the drone intrusions are repeated, North Korea may engage in stronger provocations along the border,” Cheong told AFP.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
