South Korea fires warning shots after North Korea blows up streets – DW – 10/15/2024

The South Korean military said it fired warning shots near its heavily fortified border on Tuesday after North Korean forces reportedly destroyed roads along the border.

It comes days after the North vowed to permanently seal its southern border.

South Korea's general staff chiefs said on Tuesday that Pyongyang had “carried out an explosive operation aimed at blocking communication routes.”

In response, the South Korean military said it “conducted counterfire in areas south of the military demarcation line.”

The South Korean military provided video that showed a cloud of white and gray smoke rising from an explosion on a road near the border town of Kaesong. Another video showed smoke rising from a coastal road near Korea's 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 protecting national security and preventing war.

Earlier this year, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared the South his country's “main enemy.” Since then, the regime has laid new mines, erected anti-tank barriers and deployed missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads along the already heavily fortified border.

Kim calls meetings via drones

On Saturday, North Korea accused Seoul of using drones to drop anti-regime propaganda leaflets over the capital Pyongyang. The South Korean military initially denied using the drones but has not commented on the matter since.

The North Korean leader's influential sister, Kim Yo Jong, warned on Sunday of a “terrible catastrophe” if more drones were discovered.

In response, Kim held a security meeting on Monday to be briefed on “the case of a serious provocation by the enemy that violated North Korea's sovereignty.”

The briefing was intended to “set the direction of immediate military action,” North Korea's state-controlled KCNA news agency reported.

jcg/zc (Reuters, AP, dpa)