In a recent announcement, North Korea’s military declared that, effective October 9, all highway and railway connections with South Korea will be severed, as part of enhanced border fortification efforts in response to ongoing U.S.-South Korea military exercises.
According to reports from the Korean Central News Agency, the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army confirmed the complete closure of the southern border. This includes the total cutoff of railway access and the reinforcement of the border with robust defensive structures.
The North Korean military asserted that South Korea is persistently conducting aggressive military drills, made even more potent by the presence of U.S. nuclear strategic assets that they claim pose a threat to the regime’s stability. Given the heightened military tensions on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea feels compelled to adopt stronger countermeasures to ensure national security and fully separate itself from South Korean territory.
In addition, North Korea communicated that at 9:45 AM on the same day, they informed U.S. forces stationed in South Korea via telephone about the fortification activities occurring in sensitive border areas. This was intended to prevent misunderstandings and avoid any accidental confrontations.
Interestingly, just a day before this announcement, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stated that the country has no intention of forcibly unifying with South Korea and does not plan to launch any offensive against the South.