South Korea Reports North has Blown Up Border Roads Amid Drone Controversy

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Above: Barricades are seen at a military checkpoint on the Tongil bridge, the road leading to North Korea's Kaesong city, in the border city of Paju on October 14, 2024. Image copyright: Jung Yeon-Je/Contributor/AFP via Getty Images

The Facts

  • According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, North Korea has blown up areas of an inter-Korean road north of the military demarcation line.

  • This comes after South Korea's military said Monday that it's "fully ready" to respond to reports that the North is deploying artillery troops to the border, allegedly a response to reports of South Korean drones dropping propaganda leaflets over the border.

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The Spin

Pro-North Korea narrative

Pyongyang has every right to assert control over its sovereign territory. Not only is the South dropping propaganda leaflets into enemy territory, but it's doing so by flying drones all the way into North Korea's capital city. This is clearly a national security threat that must be dealt with by the North Korean defense forces.

KCNA Watch

Anti-North Korea Narrative

Pyongyang is throwing a fit over leaflets that contain anti-Kim Jong Un messages. Besides the fact that these are just words, the only evidence of drones has been a single black-and-white photo of a winged object in the sky. South Korea has dealt with incoming North Korean drones for years, so for Kim to threaten bombs over this is uncalled for.

RBC

Metaculus Prediction