North Korea blew up roads connecting it to South Korea on Tuesday, the South Korean military said, after Pyongyang vowed to cut cross-border transport links amid controversy over drones the North said were flying over its capital, Korean media reported.
The blown-up sections are located in North Korean territory, along the Gyeongui and Donghae lines. The former is in the west and connects the North Korean city of Kaesong to South Korea’s Paju. The second line runs to the east. In response, the South Korean military opened fire south of the military demarcation line. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said:
The North Korean military fired explosions, presumably aimed at blocking the Gyeongui and Donghae roads, around noon and is conducting additional actions using heavy equipment.
The South Korean side believes the road bombing is being carried out as part of the complete destruction of the inter-Korean land route and the erection of defensive fortifications. The DPRK has been planting mines, demolishing streetlights, railway tracks and adjacent buildings in these areas since late 2023 to cut the land routes between the two countries.
On the eve of the road-bombing, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held a meeting with national security officials during which he accused Seoul of launching drones and called it a military provocation and demanded “immediate military action” to form a “military deterrent” to protect sovereignty.
The two road routes and two railway tracks blown up by the DPRK were a symbol of a former era of détente between Pyongyang and Seoul and were restored in the 2000s.
Last week, the DPRK military announced a plan to “completely separate” North Korean territory from South Korea, saying it had informed the US military of its move to “prevent any misjudgements and accidental conflicts.”
