North Korea officials inspect border fortifications as tensions rise

Kim Yo-jong and military official Pak Jong-chon inspected North Korea’s border fortifications along the boundary with South Korea.

North Korea says its leader ordered the border made permanently secure, while Kim said new weapons units had taken firing positions.

The fortification work has been under way since April 2024, with North Korea laying mines, putting up fences and building anti-tank barriers.

The work has brought North Korean troops close to or across the Military Demarcation Line, and South Korean forces have used warning broadcasts and shots to make them withdraw.

North Korea denies that its troops crossed the border and accuses Seoul of using the claims to raise tensions; South Korea and the U.N. Command have blamed North Korean mines for explosions that injured three South Korean soldiers last month.

Pyongyang warned it could respond with overwhelming military force, after Kim threatened to deploy more strike weapons and resume loudspeaker broadcasts toward South Korea.

South Korea has warned it will take stern measures if the North stages further provocations.