South Korea’s Defense Ministry<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n On Monday, South Korea said it had detected signs that North Korea was preparing to demolish roads that connect the two countries, warning that the explosions could occur imminently. Its military had implemented countermeasures, the Defense Ministry said, but did not provide specifics. <\/p>\n
A spokesman for the JCS, Lee Sung-joon, said the South Korean military detected people working behind barriers installed on the roads on the North\u2019s side of the border. <\/p>\n
The blasts come a few days after North Korea accused South Korea of flying propaganda-filled drones over its capital Pyongyang and threatened \u201cretaliation,\u201d in the latest tit-for-tat exchange following months of Pyongyang sending trash-laden balloons to the South. <\/p>\n
Last week, North Korea\u2019s army warned that it would take the \u201csubstantial military step\u201d of completely cutting off its territory from South Korea, after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un scrapped a longstanding policy of seeking peaceful reunification with the South earlier this year. <\/p>\n
North and South Korea have been separated since the Korean War ended in 1953 with an armistice agreement. The two sides are still technically at war, but both governments had long sought the goal of one day reunifying. <\/p>\n
In January, Kim said North Korea would no longer seek reconciliation and reunification with South Korea, calling inter-Korean relations \u201ca relationship between two hostile countries and two belligerents at war,\u201d KCNA reported at the time. <\/p>\n
In a statement carried by state-run news agency KCNA on October 9, the general staff of the Korean People\u2019s Army (KPA) declared that remaining roads and railways connected to the South would be completely cut, blocking access along the border. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe acute military situation prevailing on the Korean peninsula requires the armed forces of the DPRK to take a more resolute and stronger measure in order to more creditably defend the national security,\u201d he said in the KCNA notice that referred to North Korea by the initials of its official name, the Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea. <\/p>\n
The general staff said the measures were a response to recent \u201cwar exercises\u201d held in South Korea and visits by what it claims were US strategic nuclear assets in the region. Over the past year, a US aircraft carrier, amphibious assault ships, long-range bombers and submarines have visited South Korea, drawing angry rebukes from Pyongyang. <\/p>\n
Since January, Pyongyang has fortified its border defenses, laying land mines, building anti-tank traps and removing railway infrastructure, according to the South Korean military. <\/p>\n
The North and South Korean leaders have also ramped up the use of fiery rhetoric. <\/p>\n
Earlier this month, Kim threatened to use nuclear weapons to destroy South Korea if attacked, after South Korea\u2019s president warned that if the North used nuclear weapons it would \u201cface the end of its regime.\u201d <\/p>\n
The comments came as North Korea appears to have intensified its nuclear production efforts and strengthened ties with Russia, deepening widespread concern in the West over the isolated nation\u2019s direction. <\/p>\n
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, suggests North Korea\u2019s move to cut its territory off from the South could be a way for Kim to \u201cshift blame for its economic failures and legitimize its costly buildup of missiles and nuclear weapons\u201d by exaggerating external threats. <\/p>\n
\u201cKim Jong Un wants domestic and international audiences to believe he is acting out of military strength, but he may actually be motivated by political weakness,\u201d he said. \u201cNorth Korea\u2019s threats, both real and rhetorical, reflect the regime survival strategy of a hereditary dictatorship.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n
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