North Korean media silent on destruction of roads linked to South

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North Korean media silent on destruction of roads linked to South

Published: 16 Oct. 2024, 09:57

North Korea blowing up parts of the Gyeongui (top) and Donghae (bottom) roads connected to South Korea on Tuesday. [JOINT CHIEF OF STAFF]

North Korea's state media on Wednesday remained silent about its explosion of inter-Korean roads connected to South Korea the previous day.

North Korea blew up parts of the Gyeongui and Donghae roads north of the military demarcation line (MDL) on Tuesday, a move seen as highlighting its commitment to severing ties with South Korea. In August, North Korea cut off the Gyeongui and Donghae railways.

The Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper targeting the domestic audience, did not carry any report about the destruction of the cross-border roads once seen as a symbol of inter-Korean cooperation. As of 7:40 a.m., there also had been no such news reported by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the state-run news agency for readers outside North Korea.

The KCNA usually runs reports of the outcome of major events early the following morning.

North Korea's silence contrasts with how its state media reported the North's demolition in June 2020 of a joint liaison office in North Korea's border city of Kaesong. At that time, the KCNA swiftly reported the news on the day of the explosion occurring, while the Rodong Sinmun carried the report the following day.

The latest explosion came days after the country's military announced it would cut off all roads and railways linked to South Korea and build front-line defense structures to "completely separate" the North's territory from that of South Korea.

At a year-end party meeting in December last year, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un defined inter-Korean relations as those between "two states hostile to each other," and said there is no point in seeking reconciliation and unification with South Korea.

In January, he called for taking steps to "physically and completely" cut off the cross-border railway tracks to an "irretrievable level."

Yonhap