Bloomberg and AFP
North Korea destroyed some northern parts of roads connecting it to South Korea this afternoon after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held a rare security meeting, ratcheting up tensions between the two nations.
Pyongyang blew up some parts of the roads along the Gyeongui and Donghae lines at about noon, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a text message.
South and North Korean officials unveil a signboard for Seoul and Pyongyang during a groundbreaking ceremony for reconnecting and repairing roads and railways across the Korean Peninsula at Panmun Station in North Korea’s border city of Kaesong on Dec. 26, 2018.
Photo: AFP
In response, South Korea’s military said it conducted “counter-fire” operations near the border.
After North Korea “conducted an explosive operation aimed at blocking the connection roads,” Seoul’s military “conducted counter-fire in areas south of the Military Demarcation Line,” the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The move follows North Korea’s announcement last week that it would “completely separate” its territory from South Korea, blaming Seoul’s joint drills with the US and the deployment of US strategic assets in the region for exacerbating tensions.
Kim’s regime also accused Seoul of sending drones toward Pyongyang in what it called a “war provocation.”
Kim held a rare meeting with top security officials yesterday, its state media reported.
The destruction of roads connecting the two Koreas is not the first time Pyongyang has targeted symbols of rapprochement.
In 2020, it demolished an inter-Korean liaison office, likely an attempt to draw maximum global attention with little immediate risk of war.
Kim’s regime has also stepped up its defiance of the US and its allies in recent years by ramping up its nuclear production efforts and strengthening ties with Russia.
Washington has accused North Korea of supplying ammunition and missiles to Moscow for its war in Ukraine, charges that Pyongyang denies.
Last month, North Korea released its first photos of a facility to enrich uranium for atomic bombs, showing Kim touring a plant at the center of a program that has been a point of friction with the US for more than 20 years.
