North Korea has reportedly planted a large number of landmines on the road along the Gyeongui line within the Demilitarized Zone(DMZ) since early December of last year.

A military official said that since North Korea declared its abandonment of the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement, South Korean military surveillance assets have detected the North planting mines on the road.

The road connecting the two Koreas was completed in 2004, and was used by officials of companies operating in the inter-Korean Gaeseong Industrial Complex after the customs, immigration and quarantine office opened in 2006 at Dorasan Station, just south of the border.

The North has also apparently completely restored several of the eleven guard posts within the DMZ using concrete.

Having destroyed eleven posts in accordance with the 2018 agreement aimed at easing cross-border tensions, Pyongyang began rebuilding them and beefing up its military presence in the DMZ after walking away from the pact last November.

[Photo : YONHAP News]