North Korea says will ‘completely’ cut road and rail links with South Korea

North Korea’s army has said it will sever road and railway access to South Korea and fortify areas on its side of the border, state media reported.

The Korean People’s Army said on Wednesday that it will “completely cut off roads and railways” linked to South Korea and “fortify the relevant areas of our side with strong defence structures”, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The move was viewed as symbolic, given that cross-border travel and exchanges have been halted for years.

The army said in its statement carried by KCNA that it was a response to war exercises that have been held in South Korea as well as frequent visits by United States strategic assets to the region.

South Korea’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement that it had notified the US-led United Nations Command, a multinational military force that oversees affairs in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas, which are still technically at war.

The two sides signed an armistice that ended fighting in the 1950-1953 Korean War, but not a peace treaty.

North Korea had already been installing landmines and barriers and creating wasteland along the heavily militarised border for months this year, South Korea’s military has previously said.