North Korea blows up inter-Korean roads in cross-border anger

In a symbolic move, North Korea has blown up the last few unused roads that once connected the country to the now oppositional south. 

The two countries exchanged threats just days after North Korea claimed South Korea had flown drones over its capital, as cross-border tensions intensified between Pyongyang and Seoul. 

Vowing to sever relations and abandon a peaceful Korean unification, Kim Jong-un’s government carried out a choreographed demolition of northern sections of disused roads near the border.

However, a full-scale attack on South Korea is unlikely to materialise, say observers, over concerns a retaliation by Seoul and its ally, the United States, would be too much for Pyongyang. 

Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul’s government have said its military fired within their own borders as the country fortified its surveillance posture and preparations, a potential attempt to avoid exchanging such artillery across the border.

Attempting to manage affairs between the two countries, the Unification Ministry in South Korea has condemned the North’s explosions as “highly abnormal” and “regressive”, violating previous agreements between the pair.

Breaking bad

The symbolic destruction of facilities within its borders by the North Korean regime has been a continued tool of political messaging in the country’s history.

In 2008, as disarmament-for-aid negotiations with the United States took place, in response, Pyongyang blew up a cooling tower at its main nuclear complex.

Two years later, in reaction to the commencement of nuclear diplomacy between South Korea and the United States, North Korea similarly demolished tunnels at its nuclear testing location.

In 2020, in retaliation for South Korean leafleting campaigns, North Korea subsequently destroyed a southern-built liaison office building just north of the border. 

In January of this year, North Korean President Kim Jong-un broke from his predecessor’s hopes of unifying the peninsula, ordering the abandonment of all plans for peaceful unification between the two states. 

Additionally, he formally labelled its southern neighbour as the “invariable principal enemy”.

As the nuclear deadlock continues, experts have dubbed the recent activity an attempt to lessen the South’s sway inside and outside North Korea’s borders, diminishing cultural influence in Pyongyang and allowing the country to deal more directly with the United States.  

In particular, the cultural threat of South Korea has been a concern for North Korea, with the southern state accused of flying drones to drop propaganda leaflets over the country three times already in October. South Korea has refused to confirm the accusations.

Sister of Kim Jong-un, Kim Yo-jong cited alleged evidence that “military gangsters” from the south were behind the drone infiltration, warning those involved would pay the price.

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On Tuesday, the country’s state media also reported that President Kim had threatened to turn South Korea into “piles of ashes,” affirming a strategy of “immediate military action”. 

With frontline military units poised to open fire, the South Korean Unification Ministry has said the recently bombed connection links built between the two states were constructed with materials and equipment worth $132.9 million (€121.8m) provided by their government in the form of loans, demanding North Korea pay back that which they are in debt.

Latest in a series of disagreements

As recently as last week, Pyongyang stated plans to build front-line defence structures to permanently obstruct its border with the southern state. 

This follows South Korean reports that since early 2024, North Korea had added anti-tank barriers and laid mines along the stretch. 

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They also reported similar activity along sections of inter-Korean road, including similar sightings of planted mines.

The roads themselves were constructed during a period of relative stability between the two countries in the 2000s, a brief moment of reconnection before North Korea’s nuclear proliferation strained relations.

Following a recent run of inflammatory missile tests, the destruction of the disused roads is the latest in a series of disagreements between the two countries.

South Korean military video shows clouds on a road near the western border town Kaesong, with North Korean vehicles then clearing up the post-explosion debris.

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