North Korea will sever road and railway access to South Korea from Wednesday in a bid to “completely separate” the two countries, BBC reports.
Its military said the North would “permanently shut off and block the southern border” and fortify areas on its side.
The Korean People’s Army (KPA) described the move as “a self-defensive measure for inhibiting war”, claiming it was in response to war exercises in South Korea and the frequent presence of American nuclear assets in the region.
It marks an escalation of hostility at a time when tensions between the Koreas are at their highest point in years.
“The acute military situation prevailing on the Korean peninsula requires the armed forces of the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) to take a more resolute and stronger measure in order to more creditably defend the national security,” the KPA said in a report published by state media outlet KCNA.
The declaration is a largely symbolic step by Pyongyang. Roads and railways leading from North Korea to the South are rarely used, and have been incrementally dismantled by North Korean authorities over the past year.
North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un announced at the start of 2023 that he was no longer striving towards reunification with the South, raising concerns that war could resume in the Korean peninsula.
bd-pratidin/GR
