North Korea destroys roads to South Korea, prompting warning shots from Seoul

North Korea has detonated parts of its roads connecting to South Korea, further escalating tensions between the two countries, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

The explosions targeted sections of the Gyeongui and Donghae roads, vital links once symbolizing inter-Korean cooperation, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

"The North Korean military conducted detonations, assumed to be aimed at cutting off the Gyeongui and Donghae roads, at around noon and is carrying out additional activities using heavy equipment," the JCS stated in a message to reporters. Despite the destruction, South Korea's military suffered no damage and responded by firing warning shots south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), which separates the two countries.

The JCS emphasized that the South Korean military is maintaining heightened vigilance and a "firm readiness posture" through increased surveillance in coordination with U.S. forces.

This move follows North Korea’s announcement last week of plans to "completely separate" its territory from South Korea. The North also informed the U.S. military of its intentions to prevent any potential miscalculations or unintentional conflicts.

The roads in question include the Gyeongui Line, which links South Korea's border city of Paju to the North’s Kaesong, and the Donghae Line, which runs along the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula. These transportation routes, once hopeful signs of peaceful unification, are now casualties of North Korea’s aggressive stance under leader Kim Jong-un, who last year described the two Koreas as "hostile states."

In recent months, the North has taken additional measures to dismantle inter-Korean land routes, removing streetlights, installing mines, and reinforcing barbed wire along the Gyeongui and Donghae roads. North Korean troops have also been observed constructing anti-tank barriers within their side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

The situation has been tense following claims by North Korea last week that South Korea had sent drones over Pyongyang. Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, issued a stern warning, threatening a "horrible disaster" if such activities continue. While South Korea has neither confirmed nor denied the accusations, it has warned that any harm to South Koreans will result in the "end of the North's regime."

This latest development is reminiscent of North Korea's 2020 demolition of the inter-Korean joint liaison office in Kaesong, an act of retaliation against South Korean activists sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.

In response, South Korea’s military says it has fired warning shots near its heavily fortified border with the North after Pyongyang blew up sections of the deeply symbolic roads linking the two countries.

Some parts of the road north of the military demarcation line (MDL) dividing the countries were blown up, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a message sent to media.

Since leader Kim Jong-un declared the South his country’s “principal enemy” earlier this year, the North has laid fresh mines, erected anti-tank barriers, and deployed missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads along the already heavily fortified border.

Last week Pyongyang said it would permanently seal its southern border in response to war exercises held in South Korea and visits by US nuclear assets, and on October 14, Seoul warned that Pyongyang was getting ready to blow up the roads.

North Korea also accused Seoul of using drones to drop anti-regime propaganda leaflets on the capital Pyongyang, with Kim convening a security meeting to direct a plan of “immediate military action” in response.

The roads and railways connecting the two countries have long been shuttered, but destroying them sends a clear message that Kim is not prepared to negotiate with the South, experts said.

By Khagan Isayev