[2024 National Audit] Chairman of the Joint Chiefs: "North Korea's Land Route Cutoff Aims to Prevent Internal Personnel Leakage"

National Defense Committee Hearing Response... "If Damage from North Korean Balloons Is Assessed as Severe, Military Measures Will Be Taken"

On the 10th, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Kim Myung-soo commented on North Korea's announcement of a complete severance and fortification of inter-Korean land routes, stating, "I think it is to block the external leakage of internal personnel."

On the same day, at the National Assembly National Defense Committee's audit held at the Yongsan Joint Chiefs of Staff building, Kim responded to a related inquiry from Seong Il-jong, a member of the National Assembly from the People Power Party. He explained, "The Kim Jong-un regime feels fear. Building walls in the northern part of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is to defend against external intrusion," adding, "Taking such measures isolates themselves and is an excessive move to block both external inflow and internal outflow."

The General Staff of the North Korean People's Army announced in a statement the day before that "from the 9th, construction to completely sever roads and railways connected to South Korea on our side and to fortify them with solid defensive structures will proceed." North Korea had already signaled such severance earlier this year. The term 'border line,' which was not used in the past, appeared. In January, the term 'land border line' was used, and in February, the term 'maritime border line' for Yeonpyeong Island and Baengnyeong Island was used. Currently, North Korea is conducting barren land leveling work within the DMZ. Some view this as North Korea building a 'Berlin Wall' along the 248 km military demarcation line. There are also observations that this blockade measure is a response to guard against defections of North Korean soldiers.

Kim explained that the inter-Korean land routes include railways such as the Donghae Line and Gyeongui Line, National Road No. 7 along the East Sea, and the Hwasalmeori Hill passage. He noted that mines began to be laid on the Donghae and Gyeongui Lines starting in December last year, and by August this year, sleepers and rails had already been removed.

While revealing photos related to North Korea's severance of inter-Korean land routes, he said, "These movements had been monitored in advance," and evaluated, "The intention behind this announcement (of complete severance) is to secure legitimacy."

In response to a question from Park Chan-dae of the Democratic Party asking, "What is the current possibility of war with North Korea?" Kim answered, "Based on our intelligence assessment, our preparedness is solid, and the possibility of war with North Korea is not very high at this time."

Regarding a question from Yoo Yong-won of the People Power Party about the criteria for military response to South Korea-directed trash balloons dispersed by North Korea, Kim stated, "When the damage is assessed as severe and there is a threat to the lives of our people, our plan (military measures) will be executed."

In the National Defense Committee's work report that day, the Joint Chiefs of Staff stated regarding the response to North Korean trash balloons, "If severe damage occurs to our citizens due to trash balloons, we will respond with resolute military measures."

The Joint Chiefs of Staff also reported on the transfer of wartime operational control, stating that before the transfer, they are promoting the establishment of permanent combined forces of the Army, Navy, and Air Force to enhance the effectiveness and interoperability of ROK-US combined operations, adding, "Since 2019, we have been pursuing the permanent establishment task and have currently completed the permanent transition of some component forces."