South Korea says it has detected preparations by North Korea to blow up its sections of inter-Korean roads. Tensions have been soaring between the two countries in recent weeks.
South Korean officials said on Monday that they had gathered intelligence indicating that the North was preparing to demolish its half of roads that connect the two countries.
“They have installed screens on the road and are working behind those screens, preparing to blow up the roads,” Lee Sung Joon, a spokesperson for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters.
He said the operation could take place as soon as Monday.
The move follows weeks of soaring tensions on the Korean peninsula. North Korea has accused South Korea of using drones to drop propaganda leaflets over its territory three times, and threatened to respond with force if it happens again.
Assuming they go through with it, it’s is a pretty clear message that diplomatic attempts are at an end. These roads haven’t been used in years because of how insane the north koreans are, but removing them only impacts civilian transit - militaries, even hilariously inept ones like the DPRK, have the ability to lay transit paths in minutes (or may not even need them, military vehicles being known for their offroad capability). And that’s not even including the famed ‘invasion tunnels’, or that a ground assault isn’t needed when 20% of your population is within the effective range of thousands (yes, thousands) of already emplaced artillery pieces.