South Korea’s military affirmed Wednesday it had not detected any construction work by the North Korean military near the border so far, Yonhap News Agency reported. “Our military will not overlook any action by North Korea attempting to unilaterally change the status quo, and we clearly warn that responsibility for all situations resulting from it lies with North Korea,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement. “In the event North Korea carries out a provocation, our military will overwhelmingly punish not only the source of the provocation but also the supporting and commanding forces based on a firm combined defense posture,” it said.
The JCS issued the statement after North Korea’s military has said it will cut off all roads and railways connected to South Korea starting Wednesday and build “strong defense structures” in the areas in response to South Korea-US military maneuvers. “A project will be launched first on Oct. 9 to completely cut off roads and railways connected to” South Korea an
d “fortify the relevant areas of our side with strong defense structures,” the general staff of the North Korean People’s Army said in a report carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, noting the measures will “completely separate” North Korea’s territory from that of South Korea.
“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, referring to South and North Korea by the acronyms of their formal names. The North said it was taking a “more resolute and stronger measure” in response to the “acute military situation” on the Korean Peninsula, citing South Korean military exercises staged near the border and visits by US strategic nuclear assets to the region.
North Korea’s military said it sent a telephone message to the US military in South Korea at 9:45 a.m. (0045 GMT) to “prevent any misj
udgment and accidental conflict over the fortification project.” The US-led UN Command confirmed that it received a message from the North via its hotline with North Korea’s military but declined to further elaborate. The North’s announcement came amid ongoing tensions on the Korean Peninsula as the North has sent trash-carrying balloons toward the South and publicly disclosed a uranium enrichment facility for the first time.
Source: Kuwait News Agency