North Korea Army says to completely cut road and rail links to South Korea

SEOUL — North Korea's Army said it will completely cut off roads and railways connected to South Korea starting from Oct 9, and fortify the areas on its side of the border, state media KCNA reported.

The announcement heralds a further escalation in activity close to the demarcation line separating the two Koreas, which had been rare in recent years until 2024.

North Korea had already been installing landmines and barriers and creating wasteland along the heavily militarised border for months in 2024 despite accidents, South Korea's military said in July.

The General Staff of the Korean People’s Army said in a statement carried by KCNA that this was a response to war exercises that have been held in South Korea, which it called “the primary hostile state and invariable principal enemy”, as well as frequent visits by US strategic nuclear assets in the region.

North Korea's Kim Jong-un says he will speed up steps to become a nuclear weapons superpower