North Korea announced that it will cut all roads and railways connecting its territory to South Korea starting this Wednesday (9) and will build “strong defense structures” in these areas in response to military maneuvers by the neighboring country and the United States.
“First, a project will be launched on October 9 to completely cut off connected roads and railways” to South Korea and “strengthen relevant areas on our side with strong defense structures,” the North Korean state news agency reported. KCNA.
The country justified this decision as a “permanent blockade with South Korea”, considered by the Pyongyang regime to be “the main hostile and enemy state”. The measure is also defended as a “self-defense action to inhibit war and defend North Korea’s security.”
Kim Jong-un’s regime argued that it took “more resolute and stronger action” in response to the “acute military situation” on the Korean peninsula, citing South Korean military exercises near the border and visits of strategic nuclear assets by the United States to the region.
The South Korean Army, in turn, reported that so far it has not detected any new North Korean military installations being built near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which separates the two countries, and warned that it will retaliate firmly if there is any provocative movement. by North Korea.
“Our Army will not ignore any North Korean action that attempts to unilaterally change the status quo. If North Korea provokes, our Army will respond overwhelmingly to punish both the source of the provocation and the command and supporting forces.” , South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement, which also accused Pyongyang of “having recently implemented a blockade that seeks to neutralize the armistice system in the DMZ.”
Uncertain constitutional reform
North Korea’s new decision coincides with the announcement of the conclusion of an important parliamentary session in which the regime changed its Constitution, according to state media, which, however, did not detail the changes.
In the special parliamentary session, which was held on Monday and Tuesday, the country unanimously decided to amend and supplement parts of its Constitution, in accordance with the KCNA.
This amendment was expected to remove references to reunification with South Korea and redefine national borders, as ordered by the country’s leader Kim Jong-un, but the state agency did not clarify whether this was the case.
Experts believe that Kim’s willingness to abandon dialogue, formalize the existence of two clearly differentiated states on the peninsula and unilaterally define North Korea’s borders could further worsen the atmosphere of growing tensions in the region.
At a party meeting in late December last year, the North Korean leader expressed his animosity toward South Korea, defining inter-Korean relations as those between “two states hostile to each other” and adding that there was no point in seek reconciliation and unification with the neighboring country.
Over the past five years, relations between the countries have gradually worsened, with Pyongyang turning its back on new dialogue proposals with Seoul. Both are still technically at war, as the 1950-1953 conflict between them was ended by an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
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