North Korea Building Anti-Tank Barriers on Border, South Fears

Barricades are placed near the Unification Bridge, which leads to the Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone in Paju, South Korea, Tuesday, June 11, 2024. South Korean soldiers fired warning shots after North Korean troops briefly violated the tense border last week.

North Korea has allegedly begun barricading the Korean border amid escalating tensions with its southern neighbour.

According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, North Korea has erected anti-tank barriers along the demilitarized zone of the Korean border, in an act some south of the border fear could be in preparation war. This marks the latest concerning development in the pair's 70-year frozen conflict, which has shown recent signs of turning escalating.

The claim was reported on Monday by NKNews, a website established in South Korea which sources information relating to North Korea.

As well as the anti-tank obstacles, A JSC official reported activities by the DPRK relating to the "reinforcement of tactical roads, the laying of mines and the clearing of wasteland."

NKNews said that the South Korean top brass viewed this move as an effort by Pyongyang to demonstrate its readiness for a confrontation with its neighbor.

Newsweek has reached out to South Korean military officials for comment.

In addition to the anti-tank measures now being constructed, NKNews has previously identified six other areas of vegetation which North Korea has cleared along the borderland, and cited an expert who claimed that these were likely for defensive purposes.

These reports follow a period of heightened anxieties over a potential encounter between the two countries, who have been engaged in a bubbling tit-for-tat along the border in recent days.

In retaliation against South Korean activists sending balloons over the border as part of a long-running leafletting campaign, The Associated Press reported that North Korea flew hundreds of trash-carrying balloons to South Korea in early June.

This squabble culminated in warning shots being fired by South Korean forces at their DPRK counterparts, who had reportedly crossed the military demarcation line.

These actions are only the latest example saber-rattling by North Korea.

In a January speech, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said that unification with South Korea was no longer possible, and that the country's constitution should be rewritten to denote its neighbor as a "principal enemy."

Additionally, the country has persevered with its efforts at military armament in the face of international sanctions and ostracization intended to pacify the pariah state.

A recent study from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated that the country has increased its nuclear arsenal from 30 to 50 nuclear weapons over the past year. In addition, the SIPR estimated that the country has enough fissile material for a total of 90 warheads.

The country has conducted six nuclear tests between 2006 and 2017, updated its nuclear doctrine in 2022 to discard its non-first-use policy, and its leader has recently called to accelerate production of nuclear weapons in response to alleged provocations by the U.S.

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