North Korea announced that road and rail links with South Korea on the east and west sides of its southern border have been completely cut off.
“According to the instructions of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea, the General Staff of the Korean People's Army on October 15 took measures to completely cut off the DPRK's roads and railways leading to South Korea through the eastern and western regions of the DPRK's southern border,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
The move is believed to be part of a phased process of complete separation between North and South Korean territories.
KCNA quoted a spokesman for the North Korean Ministry of National Defense as saying: “On October 15, 60-meter sections of roads and railways in Kamho-ri, Kosong County, Kangwon Province and 60-meter sections of roads and railways in Tongnae-ri, Panmu County, Kaesong City were completely cut off by blasting.”
Earlier, South Korea said that on the morning of October 15, North Korea blew up part of the roads connecting it to South Korea. A few days earlier, Pyongyang announced that it would cut off roads and railways that were considered symbols of inter-Korean cooperation.
The Gyeongui and Donghae roads and railways once served as important bridges between North and South Korea, used for economic cooperation projects and humanitarian programs.