North Korea prepares to destroy the northern side of a no longer used road: Seoul | world news

Lee Sung Joon, spokesman for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a briefing that they had set up screens on the road and were working behind them in preparation to blow up the road. He said the destruction could be done as early as Monday.

Lee said the South Korean military believes the North may be trying to launch a space missile, which the United Nations sees as a banned test of long-range missile technology. Lee said North Korea may make unspecified minor provocations to increase pressure on Seoul.

It is unclear how much of the roads North Korea will destroy.

The incident comes after North Korea recently accused South Korea of ​​launching drones to drop propaganda leaflets on Pyongyang three times this month and threatened to respond with force if it happened again.

In a statement on Sunday, North Korea's defense ministry said the army had issued a preliminary operational order requiring artillery and other military units near the border with South Korea to be fully prepared for shelling.

The spokesman said that after a powerful attack by North Korea, the entire territory of South Korea could turn into a pile of ash.

North Korea often uses belligerent rhetoric as hostilities with its rivals escalate. Experts say the likelihood of North Korea carrying out a deliberate, full-scale attack is highly unlikely because its military forces are equal to those of the United States and South Korea combined.

South Korea declined to confirm whether it had sent the drones, but warned that North Korea would be severely punished if the safety of its citizens was threatened.

Last week, North Korea said it would permanently block its border with South Korea and build front-line defense structures to counter hysteria over the clash between South Korean and US forces.

South Korean officials have said that North Korea has been building anti-tank barriers, planting mines and fortifying roads along the border since the beginning of this year in an attempt to increase security on the front lines and prevent the escape of its soldiers and citizens. Near South Korea.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have reached their highest levels in years, with North Korea continuing provocative weapons tests and South Korea and the United States expanding their military exercises.

Destroying roads and engaging in other provocative activities could be seen as a move aimed at increasing pressure on South Korea and the United States ahead of next month's US presidential elections.

In January, Kim Jong Un ordered North Korea's constitution to be amended to remove the goal of peaceful Korean reunification, officially designating South Korea as the country's implacable archenemy and defining North Korea's sovereign territorial sphere.

Kim's order shocked many North Korea observers because it broke with his predecessor's long-cherished dream of peacefully achieving a unified Korea on the North's terms. Experts say Kim's goal will likely be to reduce South Korea's voice in the regional nuclear dispute and pursue direct agreements with the United States. They say Kim likely hopes to reduce South Korea's cultural influence and strengthen his rule in his own country.