Recent reports suggest that North Korea may be constructing walls and roads within the military buffer zone between the two Korean states. According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, construction work by the North Korean military was recently observed on the northern side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ), although the purpose of the work was not explained in detail. Public broadcaster KBS also reported similar observations, stating that walls are being built in various parts of the buffer zone.
The DMZ serves as the de facto border between the two countries, which have technically been at war since the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. The buffer zone, which is around 240 kilometers long and four kilometers wide, was established across the Korean peninsula at the end of the war. The inner-Korean border is heavily fortified, and tensions between the two sides have been increasing significantly in recent months. South Korean border guards even fired warning shots recently after North Korean soldiers briefly crossed