South Korea on alert as North ‘to blow up border roads’ amid drones dispute

Seoul says it is ‘fully ready’ for immoderate provocation arsenic Pyongyang deploys 8 artillery brigades to the border.

South Korea’s subject has announced it is “fully ready” to respond amid reports that North Korean troops person been deployed to the borderline and are getting acceptable to stroke up roads connecting the 2 nations on the heavy militarised dividing line.

Tensions person escalated successful caller days arsenic the nuclear-armed North accused Seoul of flying drones implicit its capital to driblet propaganda leaflets filled with “inflammatory rumours and rubbish”, and warned that if different drone was detected, it would see it “a declaration of war”.

South Korean subject spokesperson Lee Sung-jun told reporters successful Seoul connected Monday they are successful “full readiness” against the anticipation of “a provocation” aft Pyongyang ordered artillery units on the borderline to unfastened occurrence successful lawsuit of an escalation.

South Korean authorities quality bureau Yonhap besides quoted Lee arsenic saying the subject recovered that the North is installing screens on the roads “to marque preparations for the explosions”.

“It is imaginable for [North Korea’s explosions] to instrumentality spot arsenic aboriginal arsenic contiguous [Monday],” helium said. “If North Korea undertakes a provocation, we volition powerfully retaliate successful presumption of our close to self-defence.”

Seoul Korea neither confirmed nor denied connected Monday that it was liable for sending drones crossed the border, calling the North’s assertion “shameless”.

Lee, its subject spokesman, alternatively blamed Pyongyang for starting the hostility aft it launched “vulgar and basal trash balloons” to the South.

Previously, Seoul has denied it was down the drone flights, with section speculation centred connected activistic groups successful the South, which person agelong sent propaganda and the currency of the United States, a adjacent South Korean ally, northwards, typically by balloon.

But the North insists Seoul is officially to blame, announcing precocious connected Sunday it had told 8 artillery brigades already connected warfare footing “to get afloat acceptable to unfastened fire”, and reinforced aerial reflection posts successful Pyongyang.

Pyongyang claims propaganda drones person infiltrated the capital’s airspace 3 times successful caller days, with person Kim Jong Un’s almighty sister threatening a “horrible disaster” unless they stop.

In a connection aboriginal connected Monday, Kim Yo Jong said the drone flights were “an unpardonable, malicious situation to our state”.

As portion of the North’s retaliatory action, it besides seemed to beryllium preparing to carry retired explosions astatine roads connected to the South, Seoul’s subject said.

Last week, the North’s subject announced the measurement volition “completely separate” North Korea’s territory from the South.

The two Koreas are inactive technically astatine warfare aft their 1950-53 warfare ended successful an armistice, not a bid treaty.

The cross-border roads are remnants of periods of rapprochement betwixt the countries, including a 2018 acme betwixt the leaders erstwhile they declared determination would beryllium nary much warfare and a caller epoch of bid had opened.

North Korea has reintroduced dense weapons into the Demilitarized Zone borderline buffer and restored defender posts, aft the 2 sides declared a 2018 subject statement aimed astatine easing tensions nary longer valid.

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies