N.Korea cuts road, railway links to S.Korea; revises constitution

North Korea’s military says it will start work on Wednesday to cut road and railway links to South Korea and fortify defensive structures on its side of the border.

The General Staff of the Korean People’s Army made the announcement on Wednesday through the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

The General Staff said, “Given the critical situation where touch-and-go of war is ever-escalating in the area along the southern border,” the military will “permanently shut off and block” the border with South Korea, which it calls its “primary hostile state.”

It claimed that sealing the border is a “self-defensive measure for inhibiting war and defending the security” of North Korea.

North Korea also said it informed the US military of the fortification project at 9:45 a.m. Wednesday to “prevent any misjudgment and accidental conflict.”

The action may not be unconnected with the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered that the country’s Constitution be revised to define South Korea as the “No.1 hostile country.”

He made the remark at the previous assembly in January where he ordered revisions to the constitution to define South Korea as the “No.1 hostile country” and called for the removal of expressions such as “peaceful unification.” Pyongyang has yet to disclose whether these changes have been made.

The South Korean military revealed in June that North Korean troops are laying mines, reinforcing roads and building what are believed to be anti-tank barriers near the border.

Meanwhile, North Korea says it has made partial revisions to its constitution, although it remains unclear whether the changes include designating South Korea as the “No.1 hostile country.”

Wednesday’s edition of the Rodong Sinmun, the ruling Workers’ Party newspaper, reported that the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly took place in Pyongyang from Monday to Tuesday, with representatives from various regions attending.

It says the assembly adopted amendments and supplements to parts of the constitution as well as legislation related to light industry and foreign trade.