North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has officially cut off sections of roads leading to South Korea, including vital rail links, by blowing them up.
According to the Associated Press, rising tensions between the two nations escalated to threats of destruction after South Korea allegedly flew drones over North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, to distribute anti-regime pamphlets.
BREAKING:
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 15, 2024
South Korea releases videos of North Korea blowing up its railway and road connections with South Korea.
🇰🇵🇰🇷 pic.twitter.com/pGWUcM5vid
The AP further reported in response to the demolition, South Korean soldiers fired warning shots toward the country's border zone, however, there was no reported damage on the South Korea side from the explosions.
Koo Byoung Sam, spokesperson for South Korea's unification ministry, called the incident a violation of past agreements and "highly abnormal," according to GB News.
"It is deplorable that North Korea is repeatedly conducting such regressive behavior," Koo said.
According to a report from Bloomberg, North Korea has designated South Korea as a "hostile state" within its constitution on Thursday which was reported by state media.
"This is an inevitable and legitimate measure taken in keeping with the requirement of the DPRK [Democratic People;s Republic of Korea] Constitution which clearly defines the ROK [Republic of Korea] as a hostile state," the official Korean Central News Agency said.
Both sides have technically still been at war since the Korean war reached an armistice in 1953, rather than a peace treaty. After years of hostility, in 2018 the two sides declared there would be a new era of peace between them. These peaceful relations have quickly eroded since then – with both sides accusing each other of undermining the other.
North Korea has sent hundreds of hot air balloons across the border filled with human excrement and trash over the past few months. This was allegedly in response to South Korean activists sending posters into North Korea which criticized Kim, his family, and the regime.
🇰🇷🇰🇵 TRASH BALLOONS SENT BY NORTH KOREA CAUSE REGULAR DISRUPTIONS AT SEOUL'S AIRPORTS🇰🇷🇰🇵
— Dominik Andrzejczuk (🇵🇱,🇺🇸) — e/acc ⏩ (@QuantumDom) October 9, 2024
South Korea has had to shut down runways at its two main airports, Incheon and Gimpo, multiple times since June because of balloons carrying trash launched by North Korea.
According to… pic.twitter.com/XTPwuafNj6
South Korean officials have said since May, there have been approximately 5,500 of these balloons sent over the border, which has interrupted airline flights, and forced the closure of runways.
🇰🇵🇰🇷 North Korea has launched hundreds of balloons filled with trash and waste across the border, Seoul's military reported on Wednesday.
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) May 29, 2024
This action follows a warning from the North of retaliatory measures in response to anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent by South Korean activists. pic.twitter.com/28f5eoQwMK
North Korea has recently been sending troops to Russia to fight against Ukraine, a move that has now caused Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to declare war on North Korea, and Russia's other close ally, Iran.
North Korea Reportedly Sends Troops To Fight With Russia Against Ukraine | 10 News First pic.twitter.com/g10um7JmMf
— King Fit Angler (@KingFitAngler) October 16, 2024
"North Korea, the Kim family, which holds 20 million of the Korean people in slavery, our intelligence records show not only the transfer of weapons from North Korea to Russia, but also the transfer of people. These are workers for the Russian factories, instead of Russian citizens killed in the war and personnel for the Russian army, and this is already a fact. In fact, this is the participation of the second state in the war against Ukraine on the side of Russia," Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy hinted that China – which was recently attempting to play peacemaker between Russia and Ukraine – was not doing anything effective to end the war.
"Everyone sees help of the Iranian regime for Putin, as well as cooperation of China with Russia. Beijing is abstaining from taking really serious effective steps to stop Putin, stop the aggression and Russia's violation of the UN charter … Ukrainians and all our partners, if we do not strengthen ourselves significantly now, Putin will have time to significantly strengthen himself next year, strengthen so he will reject diplomacy forever. Russia must lose the war against Ukraine," Zelenskyy said.
Zelensky appears to have had a mental breakdown, announcing that Ukraine is now at war with not just Russia, but also North Korea and Iran.
— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) October 16, 2024
In a stark warning to his government, he urged swift action to bolster Ukraine's defenses, suggesting that without immediate efforts,… pic.twitter.com/NXywxFDgqA
ABC News Australia reported there have been over 1.4 million North Koreans signing up to join or have returned to the nation's army, allegedly spurred on by the recent drone pamphlet drop. Currently, North Korea has over 1.28 million active soldiers, and approximately 600,000 in reserves.
