North Korea blows up roads, prompting South to fire warning shots

North Korea blew up sections of roads in its own territory that are part of links once used to connect the southern part of the peninsula with the north, in a show of defiance after it accused Seoul of flying drones over Pyongyang.

North Korea detonated bombs north of its eastern and western borders at around noon on Tuesday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. South Korea’s military later fired off warning shots within its border, according to the JCS, which also confirmed there were no reports of damage in South Korea from the detonations.

A video released by the South Korean military showed smoke billowing from roads following an explosion, with North Korean troops monitoring the operations nearby.

South Korea strongly condemned the move, calling it an “extremely abnormal” act that violates inter-Korean agreements. The roads were built as a cooperative project between the two Koreas, with Seoul providing materials and equipment for construction.

While the incidents reflect an escalation of tensions on the peninsula, they don’t signal the imminent start of a military conflict, analysts say. North Korea has tended in the past to engage in provocative acts in the runup to major political events overseas, including U.S. elections.

“The explosion is a symbolic move to highlight that Pyongyang now sees South Korea as an enemy state,” said Park Won Gon, a professor at South Korea’s Ewha Womans University, specializing in international relations. “It was not a direct provocation to South Korea, so Seoul is unlikely to overreact to it to further escalate tensions.”

Hours after the explosions, South Korea’s Gyeonggi Province declared cities and surrounding areas that border North Korea a risk zone, and banned sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border. The Kim regime has long criticized the campaign as a threat to its sovereignty.

“It is a serious situation where the lives and safety of the residents in the border regions are threatened due to the rapidly deteriorating inter-Korean relations,” the province said in a statement. “We see sending anti-North Korea leaflets as an extremely dangerous act that could cause a military conflict.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been pushing to sunder ties with his neighbor, ruling out the possibility of a peaceful unification. He held a meeting on defense and security Monday to discuss military action plans in response to alleged drone flights, according to state media Korean Central News Agency.

North Korea has bristled at what it claimed to be the infiltration of drones in its airspace by Seoul and ordered artillery units along the border to “get fully ready to open fire” in an immediate strike if necessary.

South Korea hasn’t said whether it sent drones across the border.

North Korea vowed last week to “completely separate” its territory from the South, blaming Seoul’s joint drills with the U.S. and the deployment of U.S. strategic assets in the region for stoking tensions.

The destruction of roads connecting the two Koreas is not the first time Pyongyang has targeted symbols of rapprochement. In 2020, it demolished an inter-Korean liaison office in what was seen as an attempt to draw maximum global attention with little immediate risk of war.

Tuesday’s detonations also appear largely symbolic after Kim said he has the legal right to “annihilate” his neighbor on the divided peninsula.

South Korea has warned for months that North Korea may be considering a nuclear test near the U.S. presidential election to raise its profile. The JCS said on Monday that North Korea could also launch a space vehicle after its failed attempt to put a satellite into orbit in May.

Another major potential flashpoint is the western border islands after Kim called for clearly drawing boundaries at places including the Northern Limit Line. The NLL was decided unilaterally by U.S.-led forces after the Korean War. Waters around the area have been the site of clashes, including a 2010 incident in which South Korea claimed North Korea torpedoed one of its warships, killing 46 sailors.

Last month, North Korea released its first photos of a facility to enrich uranium for atomic bombs, showing Kim touring a plant at the center of a program that has been a point of friction with the U.S. for more than 20 years.

—With assistance from Shinhye Kang and Yasufumi Saito.