Pyongyang to ‘permanently’ shut border with South Korea

SEOUL (AFP) — North Korea’s army said Wednesday it was moving to “permanently shut off and block the southern border” with Seoul and had informed the US military to prevent an accidental clash.

In a statement, Pyongyang said it would “cut off roads and railways” that might have someday facilitated travel between the two Koreas.

While North Korea on Wednesday described the move as a “major military step,” an analyst suggested it was likely the continuation of a process long under way.

Inter-Korean relations are at one of their lowest points in years, with Pyongyang shuttering agencies dedicated to reunification and declaring South Korea its “principal enemy.”

The nuclear-armed country had been expected to scrap a landmark inter-Korean agreement signed in 1991 at a key parliamentary meeting that ended Tuesday, part of leader Kim Jong Un’s drive to officially define the South as an enemy state.

But in a Wednesday report that revealed the naming of a new defense chief, official state media made no mention of the pact being ended.

Hours later, however, the army said it planned “a substantial military step” that would “completely cut off roads and railways connected to the ROK (South Korea) and fortify the relevant areas of our side with strong defense structures.”

It added it had sent a telephone message to United States forces Wednesday morning to “prevent any misjudgment and accidental conflict over the fortification project to be launched in the acute southern border area.”