[Anchor]

It has been confirmed that North Korea has notified the United Nations Command of its plans to install barbed wire and barriers along the demilitarized zone.

Although they did not inform us directly, the government has assessed it as a significant message.

Reporter Yoon Jin reports.

[Report]

On June 25, North Korea sent a notification to the United Nations Command, which oversees the demilitarized zone.

The content stated that construction would be carried out in several areas of the demilitarized zone as part of border reinforcement work.

[Lee Seong-jun/Director of Public Affairs, Joint Chiefs of Staff: "The North Korean military resumed work in the border area from late last week, and more than a thousand personnel are currently working each day."]

Since April of last year, North Korea has been installing concrete barriers along the Northern Limit Line of the demilitarized zone.

Unlike last year, when they mobilized 5,000 to 6,000 personnel for large-scale construction, this time they are conducting small-scale work while providing prior notification.

The government has evaluated this positively for now.

[Jeon Ha-kyou/Spokesperson, Ministry of National Defense: "It is a bit difficult to predict the current intentions. However, we analyze it as a meaningful message."]

This can be interpreted as North Korea responding to our government's recent actions, such as the cessation of loudspeaker broadcasts and requests to stop the distribution of leaflets.

However, since they only notified the United Nations Command, which is the counterpart to the armistice agreement, and had previously notified in the same manner last October, some view it as too early to see it as a change in attitude.

[Choi Yong-hwan/Research Fellow, National Security Strategy Institute: "It can be interpreted as maintaining the usual protocols of inter-state relations. They followed the notification procedure through the United Nations Command, so direct communication between the North and South has not been opened."]

North Korea is still not responding to military communication lines between the North and South.

KBS News, Yoon Jin.

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