North Korea is blowing up parts of inter-Korean roads on its territory, South Korea says, as tensions between the two continue to rise

Seoul, South Korea – North Korea on Tuesday blew up northern parts of inter-Korean roads that are no longer in use, South Korea said, after the rivals exchanged threats of destruction amid rising hostilities North Korea's claim that South Korea flew drones over its capital.

The demolition of the roads is a reflection of North Korea's growing antipathy toward South Korea's conservative government, whose leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to cut ties with South Korea and abandon the goal of peaceful unification of Korea.

Observers still believe it is unlikely that Kim will launch preemptive, large-scale attacks on South Korea, as this would certainly result in massive retaliation from superior South Korean-American forces, posing a threat to his survival.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff and the South Korean military fired warning shots south of the military line separating the two nations, adding that the shots caused no damage on Seoul's side of the border. It was not immediately known whether North Korea replied.

The South Korean military has announced that it will increase its preparedness and surveillance measures in coordination with the United States.

A video provided by the South Korean military showed a cloud of white and gray smoke coming from the explosion on a road near the border town of Kaesong and North Korea, sending trucks and excavators to clear the debris. Another video showed smoke rising from a coastal road near Korea's eastern border.

Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told Agence France-Presse that Pyongyang may also be looking to build more physical barriers along the border and that the road detonations could be “preparatory work for the construction of these walls.” “

North Korea has a long history of staging choreographed events to destroy facilities on its soil as a political message.

In 2020, Pyongyang blew up an empty South Korean-built liaison office building north of the border in retaliation for South Korean civilian leafleting campaigns. In 2018, North Korea destroyed tunnels at its nuclear test site at the start of nuclear diplomacy with the United States. In 2008, North Korea blew up a cooling tower at its main nuclear complex as earlier negotiations with the U.S. and others over disarmament and aid were alive.

The destruction of the roads would be in line with Kim's January order to scuttle the goal of peaceful unification of Korea, officially declare South Korea the country's “immutable main enemy” and define the North's sovereign, territorial sphere. Kim's order stunned many Pyongyang watchers outside North Korea because it appeared to be consistent with his predecessors' long-held dreams of unifying the Korean peninsula on the North's terms.

Experts say Kim is likely aiming to weaken South Korea's voice in the regional nuclear standoff and seek direct deals with the United States. They say Kim also likely hopes to weaken South Korea's cultural influence and strengthen its rule at home.

North Korea has accused South Korea three times this month of using drones to drop propaganda leaflets over Pyongyang and threatened violence if it happened again. South Korea has refused to confirm whether it sent drones but warned that North Korea would face the end of its regime if the safety of South Korean citizens was threatened.

North Korea has put artillery and other frontline army units on standby to launch attacks on South Korea if drones from South Korea are found over North Korea again. North Korea's defense ministry said the whole of South Korea could be “turned into piles of ash” after the North's powerful attack.

North Korea's state media reported earlier Tuesday that Kim had called a meeting with his top military and security officials the day before. During the meeting, Kim called the alleged South Korean drone flights a “serious provocation of the enemy” and outlined unspecified tasks related to “immediate military action” and the use of his “war deterrent” to defend the country's sovereignty, the Korean central said News agency.

During the previous era of inter-Korean détente in the 2000s, the two Koreas reconnected two road routes and two railway tracks across their heavily fortified border. But their operations were later gradually halted as the Koreas disputed North Korea's nuclear program and other issues.

Last week, North Korea said it would permanently block its border with South Korea and build frontline defense structures to counter the “confrontational hysteria” of South Korean and U.S. forces. South Korean officials said North Korea has been building anti-tank barriers and laying mines along the border since the beginning of the year. They said North Korea also laid mines along its stretches of inter-Korean roads, removed lamps and destroyed train tracks on the north side.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula have risen sharply in recent years as North Korea conducted a series of provocative missile tests and South Korea and the United States expanded their military exercises.