South Korea’s military said it had fired warning shots near the heavily fortified border between North and South Korea after Pyongyang blew up part of a deeply symbolic road linking the two countries.
A message sent to the media by South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff on Tuesday said that around noon, part of the road north of the military demarcation line between the two countries was blown up.
It later added that in response, Seoul’s military “carried out counterattacks” in the area south of the MDL.
Since leader Kim Jong Un declared South Korea his country’s “main enemy” earlier this year, North Korea has laid new mines, erected anti-tank barriers and deployed missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads along its already heavily fortified border.
Last week, Pyongyang said it would permanently seal off its southern border in response to South Korea’s war drills and visits by U.S. nuclear assets, and Seoul warned on Monday it was preparing to blow up roads.
North Korea also accused Seoul last week of using drones to drop anti-regime propaganda leaflets on the capital, Pyongyang, and Kim Jong Un responded by convening a security meeting to direct plans for “immediate military action,” state media reported on Tuesday.
Experts say the roads and railways linking the two countries have long been closed, but destroying them sends a clear message: Kim Jong Un is not prepared to negotiate with South Korea.
“This is an actual 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.
North Korea may be looking to build more physical barriers along the border, Yang said, adding that the blast could be “preparatory work for the construction of these walls.”
Seoul’s military initially denied sending drones north but later declined to comment, despite Pyongyang directly blaming them and warning that if another drone was spotted it would be considered a “declaration of war.”
Campaign groups have long pumped propaganda into the north, often via balloons, while fanatics have also flown small, undetectable drones into the north.
At Monday’s meeting with Kim, officials heard reports on “serious provocations by the enemy,” KCNA said, adding that Kim “expressed a strong political and military stance.”
In 2022, five North Korean drones entered South Korea, the first such incident in five years, prompting the South Korean military to fire warning shots and deploy fighter jets.
The jets failed to shoot down any of the drones.
In July, Seoul said it would deploy drone-melting lasers this year and said South Korea’s ability to respond to provocations would be “significantly enhanced.”
The new laser weapon, dubbed “Project Star Wars” by South Korea, fires an invisible, silent beam and costs just 2,000 won ($1.45) per use, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.
Relations between the two Koreas are at their lowest point in years, with the North’s military saying last week it would permanently close its southern border by “completely cutting off roads and railways connected to South Korea” and building “strong defense structures.”
Chung Sang-chang of the Sejong Institute said that after Kim Jong-un’s meeting in Pyongyang, “attention turned to whether North Korea would send drones to South Korea in response, or whether North Korea would take strong action if drones infiltrated its territory again ”.
“North Korea may launch strong provocations in border areas if drone infiltration occurs again,” Jang told AFP.
AFP and Reuters contributed to this report
