North Korea Cuts Off Roads, Railways to South Korea

News Summary

On Wednesday, North Korean state media reported that North Korea will cut off all roads and railways connecting to South Korea and enhance security along its border.

According to a statement written by the General Staff of the North Korean People’s Army (KPA), a project will be launched to cut off all roads and railways connecting to South Korea and to fortify the corresponding areas on the North Korean side with strong defense structures.

Commentary

The Kim regime's recent efforts to cut off all ties with South Korea, both physically and psychologically, clearly indicate its deep fear and concern about the impact of South Korean culture on its population.

Since the implementation of an "anti-reactionary thought law" in 2020, which explicitly prohibits South Korea's cultural content, the regime has been ferociously combatting the proliferation of South Korean culture within its population, particularly targeting the youth. Many North Korean youths have been punished publicly for consuming South Korean content.

The number one threat to the regime's survival at this point is not U.S. B-1B bombers or the U.S.-South Korea-Japan trilateral alliance, but the increased availability of outside information, especially South Korean content. It fosters admiration among the North Korean people for their neighboring country, consequently bolstering their discontent and dissatisfaction with their failed regime.

The Kim regime's recent shift toward a "two-state system," which portrays South Korea as an adversary, underscores Kim Jong un's extreme desperation to isolate his people from any influence from South Korea for his survival. While Kim may succeed in blocking physical links with the South like roads and railways, he will inevitably fail to cut off the psychological connections with the South that have already been formed among his people. Kim will soon realize that the Korean wave (Hallyu) is beyond his control.