North Korea announced on Thursday that it blasted roads and railways connected to South Korea on Tuesday. It says the border blockage is in line with the requirements of the North’s Constitution, which clearly defines the South as a hostile state.
North Korea’s state-run media reported a statement from a spokesperson of the country’s defense ministry.
The report said 60-meter-long sections of the roads and railways on the eastern and western sides of the Korean Peninsula have been completely blocked through blasting.
It described the measure as “part of the phased complete separation” of the North’s territory from that of the South.
It quoted the spokesperson as saying that North Korea will “continue to take measures to permanently fortify the closed southern border.”
South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported that the North’s comment defining the South as a “hostile state” was the first time Pyongyang confirmed that the country’s Constitution had been revised to include the definition.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had instructed that South Korea be defined in the Constitution as the “No.1 hostile country.”
The issue was believed to have been discussed by the Supreme People’s Assembly last week, but Pyongyang had not disclosed whether the Constitution was revised regarding inter-Korean relations.