North Korea is preparing to set off explosions on roads connected to South Korea, Seoul's military said Monday, days after Pyongyang announced it would cut off all inter-Korean links.

A spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff said at a press briefing that the North has been installing screens along the road in preparation for detonations.

"Preparations are being made to blow up the road," JCS spokesperson Col. Lee Sung-jun said. "It is possible [for the explosions] to take place as early as today."

North Korea's military said Wednesday that it is permanently sealing off its border with South Korea, cutting off all rail and road connections and bolstering defensive fortifications, as tensions continue to rise on the Peninsula.

The North has sent thousands of trash-carrying balloons across the border in recent months and Seoul has responded with loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts at the DMZ.

On Friday, the North accused South Korea of flying drones carrying leaflets in the skies over Pyongyang three times in the previous week. In a follow-up statement, its military announced that orders were given "to place eight artillery brigades fully armed at full wartime strength on standby to open fire," according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned Sunday that any further drone flights would "certainly lead to a horrible disaster."

South Korea's Defense Ministry responded in a statement to reporters saying any attempts to harm its people by the North "will be the end of the North Korean regime."

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday it could not confirm whether the military had sent drones over the border to the North, which Col. Lee repeated on Monday.

The spokesman said that the South Korean military is monitoring activity by the North's artillery units at the border as well as any other possible moves such as the launch of a space vehicle.

"Our military is keeping a close eye on North Korean military movements and is fully prepared for the possibility of an actual provocation," Lee said.

"All of this [situation] has come from North Korea, and we strongly warn North Korea to stop the filthy and low-grade garbage balloons," he added.

North Korea says ordered border army to be ready to shoot
Seoul (AFP) Oct 13, 2024 –

North Korea said Sunday it had ordered military units deployed near the border with South Korea to be prepared to shoot after claiming the South had sent unmanned drones carrying propaganda leaflets to Pyongyang.

Relations between the two Koreas are at a low point, with the North's leader Kim Jong Un declaring South Korea to be his country's "principal enemy" earlier this year.

Citing the North's defence ministry statement, the official Korean Central News Agency reported that "the General Staff of the KPA issued a preliminary operation order on October 12 to the combined artillery units along the border… to get fully ready to open fire."

KPA stands for the Korean People's Army, the North's military.

The order was for "eight artillery brigades fully armed at full wartime strength on standby to open fire" until Sunday night at 8 pm (1100 GMT).

KCNA also said other units were ordered to "intensify monitoring on full alert" while "anti-air observation posts have been reinforced" in the capital city Pyongyang.

North Korea on Friday said the South had sent drones carrying propaganda leaflets into Pyongyang's airspace on October 3, and then again on Wednesday and Thursday last week.

The drones allegedly sent by the South had dropped anti-regime propaganda, and the leaflets were filled with "inflammatory rumors and rubbish", KCNA said.

Flying drones into Pyongyang's airspace "could be considered a military attack", the North's foreign ministry said, according to KCNA, adding it is "an intolerable and unforgivable grave provocation".

The South Korean defense minister, Kim Yong-hyun, initially denied the claim, but the country's Joint Chiefs of Staff later amended that position, saying in a statement that they "cannot confirm whether the North Korean allegations are true or not".

The North's army last week said it would "permanently shut off and block the southern border" with South Korea.