On Monday, North Korean military officials confirmed that communist North Korea had begun removing lights from the bridges between North and South Korea.
In late 2023, North Vietnamese soldiers were discovered installing mines on inter-Korean routes, according to authorities with the North Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the military command in Seoul. The Demilitarized Zone ( DMZ), a buffer zone between the two Koreas established by the armistice that put an end to the Korean War’s hostilities in 1953, surrounds the roads. Technically speaking, the Korean War continues to be lively because neither part has signed a peace treaty or surrendered.
The most perilous of the recent moves by the communist government of dictator Kim Jong-un in the past year was Kim’s charter in January that he would no longer do the unity of the Korean peninsula. Shutting down avenues to help travel between the two countries is the most recent in a series of increasingly aggressive moves by the communist regime. North Korea had for years denied South Korea’s sovereignty and characterized it in state media as a country genuinely belonging to a consolidated Korea under Pyongyang. Kim’s law was altered in January when he declared South Korea an enemy position.
According to him at the time,” It is the final conclusion drawn from the harsh history of the inter-Korean relationships that we cannot continue to pursue the path of national recovery and reconciliation together.”
North Korea has since then engaged in numerous intimidating activities, including reportedly carrying out a simulated nuclear attack this month and reportedly developing an reported “underwater nuclear weapons system.”
A bridge crossing between North and South Korea in the Demilitarized Zone ( DMZ) between South and North Korea on February 7, 2018, in Panmunjom, South Korea, is a sign that warns of North Korean landmines. ( Carl Court/Getty Images )
The North was discovered late last month near Arrowhead Hill in Cheorwon, 85 kilometers east of Seoul, by the military, according to the North Korean Yonhap News Agency. ” Since late last month, the North has installed mine on all streets between the two Koreas that were once thought to be symbols of inter-Korean peace and participation.”
Yonhap argued that all of North Korea’s streets are connected to previous unsuccessful efforts to sag între them. For instance, the Cheorwon road was constructed during the presidency of leftist former South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who pushed a coddling Pyongyang and signed contracts in 2018 to strengthen connectedness across the borders.
Moon Jae visited North Korea for the first time since 2007 that a South Korean president has visited, making history in 2018. Kim Jong-un presented the leftist leader with a parade, a hug, and a visit to Mount Paektu, a volcano with a significant spiritual significance in Korean culture. In the course of Moon’s diplomacy, a” joint liaison office” was established that year to facilitate communication and strengthen ties between the two nations, hopefully putting the finishing touches on the Korean War.
Moon was unable to put an end to the conflict. Since Moon left office in 2022, North Korea has largely resumed its policy of threatening nuclear attacks on the South. It bombed the joint liaison office in 2020. Kim Jong-un continued to show him personal respect for Moon after his 2022 term ended, which the North Korean state media alleged was an “expression of their deep trust” between the two leaders.
Kim has not pursued a friendship like Moon’s successor, Yoon Suk-yeol, a hardline conservative who has invested in boosting ties with Washington and strengthening the South Korean military.
On two additional roads, according to military authorities on Monday, North Korean soldiers had placed mines in the last year. All the roads are frequently used and connected to unity initiatives.
” Due to the]Wuhan coronavirus ] pandemic, South Korean officials closed its joint liaison office in Kaesong in 2020, marking the last time the Gyeongui road was used”, the Korea JoongAng Daily, identifying two of the other mined roads, reported on Monday. The Donghae road has remained unused since the failed 2019 Hanoi summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and then-U.S. President Donald Trump.
South Korea JCS spokesperson Col. Lee Sung- jun told reporters that Seoul would take “necessary” measures in response to the new landmines, without elaborating.
Kim Jong-un’s decision to mine the roads seems to send a message to South Korea that he is not willing to engage in diplomatic dialogue. In January, Kim made the explicit claim that” the Republic of Korea ( ROK ) is now the most hostile state in the world.”
” The ROK scums are our principal enemy”, Kim declared.
File/A South Korean soldier removes landmines inside of the Demilitarized Zone ( DMZ) on October 2, 2018 in Cheorwon, South Korea. ( Song Kyung- Seok- Pool/Getty Images )
North Korean state media that month claimed the nation had developed an “underwater nuclear weapon system” called” Haeil- 5- 23 .” It did not specifically describe the system’s nature or how it would operate. It would be the first of several declarations of military might to include allegedly new technology. In March, Kim appeared in photos allegedly driving new armored vehicles. According to state media in North Korea, the nation is now producing” the most powerful tanks in the world” with “very excellent striking power and maneuverability.”
Last week, the state- run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA ) announced that Kim personally led a” counterattack” nuclear drill simulating the nuclear bombing of an enemy.
The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un expressed great joy over the outcome of the drill, “blaming the high hit and accuracy of the super-large multiple rocket launchers” according to KCNA, “blatantly boasting of the formidable might, the most powerful in the world, have… have… been faithfully mobilized.”
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