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Tensions between South and North Korea are rising amid drone threats

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Tensions between South and North Korea are rising amid drone threats

North Korea is preparing to blow up roads crossing the heavily militarized border with South Korea, Seoul said on Monday, amid an escalating war of words after the North accused its rival of sending drones over its capital Pyongyang.

North Korean troops were working in disguise on the roads on its side of the border near the west and east coasts, likely in preparation to blow up the roads, possibly as early as Monday, South Korea's military spokesman said.

Last week, the North Korean army said it would completely cut off roads and railways connecting South Korea and fortify areas on its side of the border, state media KCNA reported.

Separately, North Korea on Friday accused South Korea of ​​sending drones to distribute a “huge number” of anti-North leaflets over Pyongyang, which it described as a political and military provocation that could lead to armed conflict.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un casts his vote during a local election in South Hamgyong province, North Korea, in this picture released November 27, 2023 (Credit: KCNA VIA REUTERS)

Lee Sung-jun, a spokesman for the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff, declined Monday to answer questions about whether the South Korean military or civilians flew the drones.

Warnings and threats

In further statements over the weekend, North Korea warned of a “terrible catastrophe” if South Korean drones flew over Pyongyang again. On Sunday it was said that eight fully armed artillery units had been placed at the border “in readiness to open fire”.

The South Korean military has said its refusal to answer questions about the drones was because confronting the North's claims would lead to Pyongyang being drawn into a tactic to make excuses for provocations.

South Korea has been trying to strengthen its drone defenses since 2022, Lee said, when five North Korean drones entered its airspace and flew over the capital Seoul for several hours.

Lee Kyoung-haing, an expert in military drone operations at Jungwon University, said civilians would have no problem flying drones with a range of 300 km (186 miles), round-trip from the south to Pyongyang, with light payloads such as leaflets to get.

On Sunday, North Korea's Defense Ministry said the drones it said were spotted over Pyongyang on three days earlier this month were a special missile launcher or runway and it was impossible for a civilian group to launch them could.

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The two Koreas are technically still at war, after their 1950-53 war ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

The cross-border ties are remnants of times of rapprochement between the countries, including a summit between the leaders in 2018 where they declared that there would be no more war and a new era of peace had begun.

North Korea has reintroduced heavy weapons into the Demilitarized Zone's border buffer and restored guard posts after both sides declared a 2018 military deal on detente was no longer valid.



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