"The North Korean military conducted explosions, believed to be aimed at cutting off the Gyeongui and Donghae routes, around noon on October 15 and conducted additional operations using heavy equipment," Yonhap quoted the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) as saying.
According to the JCS, the South Korean military suffered no damage and responded by opening fire south of the military demarcation line (MDL) as a self-defense measure and as a warning against possible violations of the armistice agreement.
The explosions occurred in areas just 10 meters away from the MDL at 11:49 a.m. local time on the road along the Gyeongui Line and at 12:01 a.m. on the road along the Donghae Line.
Last week, the North Korean military announced plans to “completely separate” North Korean territory from South Korea, notifying the US military of the move to “prevent any misjudgment and unintended conflict.”
The two Koreas are connected by road and rail along the Gyeongui Line - a line connecting the South Korean western border city of Paju with North Korea's Kaesong, and the Donghae Line along the east coast.
The move comes as Pyongyang has ratcheted up tensions with Seoul and dashed hopes of unification after leader Kim Jong-un designated North and South Korea as "hostile states" late last year and took steps to dismantle inter-Korean land routes.
Since then, North Korea has dismantled streetlights and planted landmines along the Gyeongui and Donghae roads, as well as deployed troops to build anti-tank barriers and reinforce barbed wire fences inside the demilitarized zone that divides the two Koreas.
"Blowing up inter-Korean roads could be their final agenda as they have already destroyed other signs of inter-Korean cooperation, such as the inter-Korean joint liaison office," a JCS official said.
In 2020, North Korea blew up the inter-Korean joint liaison office in the border town of Kaesong after criticizing South Korea for failing to stop North Korean defectors in the South from sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border via balloons.
Pyongyang appears to want to show its people that all ties between the two Koreas have been severed, while warning South Korea that relations between the two Koreas are no longer viable, the official said.
Tensions escalated further after North Korea announced on October 11 that South Korea had flown drones over Pyongyang three times this month.
The next day, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong-un, warned of a "terrible disaster" if South Korean drones flew over the North Korean capital again.
South Korea neither confirmed nor denied the claim and warned that North Korea would face consequences if it caused any harm to South Koreans.
