North Korea severs ties with South, escalates border tensions
The North Korean military announced that starting Wednesday, it would begin cutting off all land routes and rail lines connecting the country with South Korea, according to the Yonhap agency. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had already promised a "physical and complete" cutoff to an "irreversible level" back in January.
"A project will be launched first on October 9 to completely cut off roads, and railways connected to" South Korea and "fortify the relevant areas of our side with strong defence structures," stated the general staff of the North Korean People's Army in a report published by the Korean Central News Agency."
"For our army to permanently shut off and block the southern border with the ROK, the primary hostile state and invariable principal enemy, in the current situation is a self-defensive measure for inhibiting war and defending the security of the DPRK," the army conveyed, adding that it is taking decisive and strong measures in response to maneuvers by the South's army and frequent visits of American strategic nuclear assets in the region.
Kim Jong Un mentioned the necessity of the "physical and complete" cutoff of the northern side of the cross-border railway tracks to an "irreversible level" during a speech before the Supreme People's Assembly on January 15. In it, he called for recognizing South Korea as a "hostile state" in the constitution and removing certain terms such as "peaceful reunification" from the basic law.
In line with the new direction, the "eye-catching" Unification Monument in Pyongyang and three agencies promoting inter-Korean dialogue and cooperation have been eliminated.
Escalation after the launch of a spy satellite
Relations between the Koreas are currently rated as the worst in decades. Escalation occurred after Pyongyang launched a spy satellite in the fall of last year. By the end of 2023, the authorities of North Korea had declared an invalid key agreement signed with Seoul in 2018 aimed at de-escalating military tensions.
Meanwhile, South Korea decided to suspend the agreement in June in response to a series of provocations, including missile tests and salvos of balloons filled with trash sent south.
