North Korea's Army said it will completely cut off roads and railways connected to South Korea starting from Wednesday, 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 this year.
North Korea had already been installing landmines and barriers and creating wasteland along the heavily militarized border for months this year 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.
According to Reuters, South Korea's defense ministry said in a statement that the United Nations Command (UNC) has been notified of the matter, but declined to give specifics.
South Korea is in close communication and cooperation with UNC concerning North Korea's announcement, the ministry added.
The US-led UNC is a multinational military force and oversees affairs in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas, which remain technically at war.
KCNA earlier Wednesday said the Supreme People’s Assembly met for two days this week to amend the legal ages of North Koreans for working and participating in elections. But it didn't say whether the meeting dealt with leader Kim Jong Un's order in January to rewrite the constitution to remove the goal of a peaceful Korean unification, formally designate South Korea as the country’s “invariable principal enemy” and define the North’s sovereign, territorial sphere.
According to The Associated Press, some experts say North Korea might have delayed the constitutional revision but others speculated it amended the constitution without announcing it because of its sensitivity.
Kim's order stunned many North Korea watchers because it was seen as breaking away with his predecessors' long-cherished dreams of achieving a unified Korea on the North's terms. Experts say Kim likely aims to diminish South Korea’s voice in the regional nuclear standoff and seek direct dealings with the US. They say Kim also likely hopes to diminish South Korean cultural influence and bolster his rule at home.
