South Korea said on Monday that North Korea is preparing to blow up roads along its militarised border with the South, amid escalating tensions following Pyongyang’s accusations of using drones to distribute propaganda leaflets over the DPRK capital.
North Korea’s armed forces are already conducting undercover preparations on border roads in the western and eastern regions of the country, according to Lee Seong-jung, a spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. According to him, these actions may herald road bombings in the coming hours.
Last week, the DPRK announced that it would close all transport routes, including roads and railways, connecting the two countries and strengthen defences on its side of the border. Pyongyang also accused Seoul of sending drones that dropped “a large number” of anti-government leaflets over Pyongyang, calling it a political and military provocation that could lead to an armed conflict.
Lee Sung-jung refused to comment on whether South Korean military or civilians were involved in the operation. He stressed that South Korea’s military is trying not to respond to the DPRK’s provocative actions in order to avoid further escalation of tensions.
At the same time, North Korea warned over the weekend that repeated flights of South Korean drones over its territory could cause a “terrible catastrophe”. In addition, Pyongyang reported that it had deployed eight armed artillery pieces on the border, ready to open fire immediately.
According to Lee Kyung-hing, an expert on unmanned systems at Junwon University, civilians could use drones with a range of up to 300 km to deliver leaflets from South Korea to Pyongyang. However, North Korea claims that the drones discovered in early October were too sophisticated to be launched by civilian organisations.
Tensions between South and North Korea have remained high since the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War, which ended with an armistice but not a peace treaty. Although in 2018 the leaders of both countries announced a new era of peace, cross-border ties have repeatedly deteriorated due to provocations on both sides.
After the collapse of the 2018 denuclearisation agreement, North Korea returned heavy weapons to the DMZ and re-established border posts, further increasing the risk of conflict.
