North Korea blew up the northern parts of inter-Korean roads, amid rising tensions over the North’s claim that South Korea flew drones over its capital.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Pyongyang “conducted an explosive operation aimed at blocking the connection roads” on Tuesday.
As a response, the South Korean military said it “conducted counter-fire in areas south of the military demarcation line.”
South Korea’s military provided a video that showed a cloud of white and gray smoke emerging from an explosion at a road near the border town of Kaesong. Another video showed smoke emerging from a coastal road near the eastern border.
Although the roads and railways connecting the two countries have long been shut down, North Korean state media reported that the new measures were aimed at safeguarding national security and preventing war.
Earlier this year, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared the South his country’s “principal enemy” and since then, the regime has laid fresh mines, erected anti-tank barriers, and deployed missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads along the already heavily fortified border.
Following the dual incidents, China called for both sides on the Korean peninsula to avoid a “further escalation.”
“Tensions on the peninsula do not serve the common interests of all parties,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular briefing. “The priority is to avoid further escalation of conflicts.”
Beijing, which is North Korea’s most important ally and economic benefactor, said it was “paying attention to the development of the peninsula’s situation.”
