Trucks carrying sand collected from the Sacheon River in Pyeonghwa-ri, Panmun-gun, South Hwanghae Province, North Korea, enter South Korea through the Gyeongui Line temporary road on the afternoon of June 4, 2004. / Reporter Jo In-won
The military has discovered that North Korea has blocked the Gyeongui Line land route within the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with a barrier and placed a large number of mines next to the road. While Kim Jong-un declared last month that “unification cannot be achieved with the Republic of Korea at any time,” North Korea has taken steps to cut off inter-Korean exchanges. The Gyeongui Line land route is currently the only route between North and South Korea to the Kaesong Industrial Complex.
A military official said on the 5th, “Since early December of last year, the North Korean military has blocked the Gyeongui Line land route with barriers and other obstacles and placed mines next to the paved road to block traffic.” The Gyeongui Line land route was completed in 2004 when the Kaesong Industrial Complex began operation and served as a blood vessel for inter-Korean economic cooperation. Its use was suspended when the Kaesong Industrial Complex was closed in 2016, but operation resumed after the ‘Panmunjom Declaration’ in 2018. However, it was closed after the 2019 U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi ended in no deal. There is an interpretation that the fact that North Korea blocked this road and turned it into a minefield suggests a severance of inter-Korean relations. A military official said, “Although they did not physically destroy the road, it appears that they actually mean that they will not use the Gyeongui Line land route.” North Korea also blocked the Gyeongui Line land route in protest during the ROK-US exercises (Key Resolve) in March 2009.
Meanwhile, it was confirmed by military surveillance equipment that North Korea had recently completely restored several of the 11 guard posts (GPs) in the demilitarized zone that had been temporarily restored using wood using concrete. North Korea destroyed 10 of the 11 GPs operating within the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in accordance with the September 19 military agreement five years ago. However, starting in November of last year, it was restored to wood and replaced with concrete for full-scale operation of the GP. This can be interpreted as an intention to operate the surveillance post for a long period of time. Previously, our military authorities captured scenes of North Korea restoring the GP with wood and bringing in heavy weapons after declaring the complete abandonment of the September 19 military agreement in late November. A military official said, “Our military will also take necessary measures.”
2024-01-05 13:42:00
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