Demolishing the roads would be a powerful symbol that ballistic-mad Kim Jon Un isn’t interested in a peaceful unification, and wants to make the south its principal enemy
North Korea is “planning to demolish roads” that cross into the heavily militarised border, Seoul officials fear.
Kim Jon Un’s troops were allegedly spotted working on the roads, which are no longer in use but a poignant reminder that peaceful unification could be possible. Lee Sung Joon, spokesperson of South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff, said the demolitions could be carried out as early as today.
“They have installed screens on the roads and are working behind those screens, preparing to blow up the roads,” he added. It is not yet clear how much of the roads North Korea wants to destroy in retaliation. During the previous era of inter-Korean détente in the 2000s, the two Koreas reconnected two road routes and two rail tracks across their controlled border. However, these operations were all suspended following North Korea’s nuclear program and other tensions.
The move comes swiftly after claims South Korea flew drones over Pyongyang three times this month to delivery propaganda leaflets- an act that triggered Kim’s sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, to brand South Korean military ‘dregs’ and ‘mongrels tamed by Yankees’. She added that ‘the master of those dogs’ – believed to be a reference to the US itself – must be held accountable for the alleged drone flights.
In a statement sent out on Sunday, the North’s Defence Ministry said the military had ordered artillery near the border with South Korea to ‘get fully ready to open fire’. South Korea didn’t confirm whether or not it sent drones into the North but warned there would be a stern punishment if its citizens’ safety became under threat.
According to AP, last week, North Korea declared plans to permanently block its border and create a new front-line defence structure to deal with what it describes as ‘confrontational hysteria’ by the south and US forces. It comes as officials from the South accuse the North of already adding anti-tank barriers and ‘laying mines along the border’ since the beginning of this year.
They added that North Korea has also planted mines and removed lamps along its sections of the inter-Korean roads and taken out ties on the northern side of the railways. Despite tensions escalating quickly, experts aren’t worried about a full-scale retaliation just yet due to being outmatched by the South and its allies’ military presence.
Koo Byoungsam, a spokesperson of South Korea’s Unification Ministry, said that North Korea’s accusation over drone flights was more likely aimed at creating tensions to reinforce its internal unity while stoking instability in the south.
