South Korea’s spy agency on Wednesday confirmed it detected signs that North has been demolishing sections on the northern side of an inter-Korean railway on the east coast in an apparent move to erase inter-Korean exchange and cooperation legacy, as per media reports.
South and North Korea agreed to restore two railways — the Gyeongui and Donghae — in 2000, when the divided countries held their first summit. The Donghae railway linked eastern coastal cities across the heavily fortified border.
North Korea has been focusing on erasing unification references since its leader Kim Jong-un defined inter-Korean ties as those “between two states hostile to each other” at a year-end party meeting.
“As there have been recently signs that some parts of the track of the Donghae railway are being demolished, we are monitoring the situation,” Yonhap news agency quoted the National Intelligence Service (NIS) as saying.
The North has been detected removing a railway sleeper on the northern side of the Donghae line, local newspaper Donga Ilbo reported, citing a Seoul government source.
South Korea fully suspended the 2018 inter-Korean military tension reduction agreement Tuesday in response to North Korea’s latest trash-carrying balloon campaign and jamming of GPS signals last week.
Seoul said it will restore all military activities near the Military Demarcation Line and on its northwestern border islands, such as artillery drills and field training, the Yonhap report said.
