
SEOUL - North Korea is constructing walls and digging roads on its side of the demilitarised zone (DMZ) along the border with South Korea.
Yonhap News reported on Saturday that the construction has been taking place recently inside parts of the 2-kilometre-wide (1.2-mile) area between the northernmost edge of the DMZ and the military demarcation line (MDL), which divides the peninsula, Yonhap said, citing an unidentified military source. North Korea’s motive remains unclear and Yonhap did not say how high or wide the walls were.
Earlier this month South Korean troops fired warning shots after some North Korean soldiers carrying picks and shovels briefly trespassed the MDL, which might have to do with the construction, the news agency said.
Relations between the two countries remain tense after North Korea recently floated trash-filled balloons into the South and Seoul retaliated by saying it would turn on loudspeakers that blare out propaganda in the area. The two Koreas position hundreds of thousands of troops and the bulk of their firepower near the border.

This handout image from Planet Labs PBC taken on June 6, 2024, and received on Wednesday shows a view of the Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang.