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North Korea destroys connections near South Korea
North Korea demolished parts of inter-Korean roads and railway tracks in their territory along the heavily fortified border on Tuesday, leading South Korea’s military to shoot warning shots.
Last week, Pyongyang announced its intention to completely sever the inter-Korean roads and railways and strengthen the areas on its side of the border in pursuit of a “two-state” system, abandoning its previous goal of unification.
The South’s JCS reported that road and rail connections to the South were damaged in northern areas around midday on Tuesday.
Seoul’s ministry in charge of cross-border affairs criticized the incident as a blatant breach of previous inter-Korean agreements, describing it as “highly abnormal.”
“It is deplorable that North Korea is repeatedly conducting such regressive behaviour,” ministry spokesperson Koo Byoung-sam told a briefing.
Tensions escalated last week when the North claimed that Seoul had flown drones over Pyongyang. North Korea claimed that the drones spread a large amount of anti-North leaflets, and Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of leader Kim Jong Un, cautioned on Tuesday that Seoul would face severe consequences.
South Korea‘s government has refused to reveal if the alleged drones were flown by the South Korean military or civilians.
The two Koreas have also disagreed over balloons filled with garbage that have been sent flying from North Korea since May. Pyongyang has stated that the missile tests are in retaliation to balloons sent by South Korean activists opposing the regime.
Following the demolitions on Tuesday, footage from the South’s military depicted an explosion and a cloud of smoke emerging from a section of road where the North had erected a black barrier.
It also displayed multiple dump trucks and earth-movers being accompanied by a team of North Korean military officers who were watching and directing the vehicles.
The South’s military fired cautionary shots south of the military demarcation line in reaction to the explosions, but no harm was reported on Seoul’s side of the border.
PREVIOUS INDICATIONS OF MAKING AMENDS
Since Kim Jong Un designated it as a “primary foe” and stated that unification was no longer achievable, Pyongyang has been working towards breaking off inter-Korean relations by categorizing the South as a distinct and adversarial enemy state.
The war between North and South Korea ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty, so they are still technically at war.
The cross-border roads and railways are leftovers from a 2018 summit that fostered reconciliation. Seoul has provided over $132 million in cheap loans to Pyongyang for rebuilding the connections, according to data from the unification ministry.
Ministry spokesperson Koo stated that the major cooperation project between North and South Korea was done at the North’s request, and Pyongyang still had to repay the loans.
In 2020, the North destroyed a joint liaison office in a border town following the breakdown of nuclear talks with the United States.
In 2023, South Korea brought a legal case against North Korea, aiming to receive approximately 45 billion won ($33 million) in compensation for the destruction of the shared office.
During a press briefing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning expressed Beijing’s worry about current events and expressed a desire to prevent the conflict from escalating further.
The South Korean government in Gyeonggi Province announced on Tuesday that a special police force will be deployed to stop the distribution of anti-North Korea leaflets in certain border regions.
Last year, South Korea’s constitutional court lifted a prohibition on such launches.
Supporters argue that leaflet campaigns must be viewed as a form of free speech, whereas opponents and certain legislators believe that law enforcement should intervene if they pose a threat to lives and safety.
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