North Korea to cut off all roads and railways to South Korea

SEOUL, Oct. 9 (UPI) — North Korea’s military said Wednesday that it is permanently sealing off its border with South Korea, cutting off all rail and road connections and bolstering defensive fortifications, state-run media reported.

“A project will be launched first on October 9 to completely cut off roads and railways connected to the ROK and fortify the relevant areas of our side with strong defense structures,” a report from the Korean People’s Army, carried in the official Korean Central News Agency, said.

“For our army to permanently shut off and block the southern border with the ROK, the primary hostile state and invariable principal enemy, in the current situation is a self-defensive measure for inhibiting war and defending the security of the DPRK,” it said, using the official acronyms for both South and North Korea.

North Korea said the move was in response to the “acute military situation” on the Korean Peninsula, citing the South’s military exercises and visits by U.S. “strategic nuclear assets” for the decision.

The North’s military added that it sent a telephone message to U.S. forces in South Korea at 9:45 a.m. local time to inform them of the project.

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff responded to the announcement, calling it “worthless.”

The blockade is “nothing more than a last resort measure stemming from the insecurity of the failed Kim Jong Un regime, and will lead to even more severe isolation in the future,” the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters on Wednesday afternoon.

“Our military will never tolerate any actions by North Korea that attempt to unilaterally change the status quo, and we clearly warn that North Korea will be responsible for all situations that arise as a result,” it added.

Tensions around the DMZ have risen in recent months, with North Korea sending thousands of trash-carrying balloons across the border and Seoul responding with loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts.

Pyongyang has also maintained a steady stream of weapons tests and hostile rhetoric toward its neighbor. Earlier this week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned of a nuclear response to any attacks by the United States and South Korea.

In February, Kim declared the South the “invariable principal enemy” and publicly called for a constitutional change rejecting the long-held official goal of reunification. North Korea’s parliament held a session this week to revise its constitution, KCNA reported Wednesday, but did not specify whether any changes were made to officially name South Korea a hostile state.