(LEAD) N. Korea to cut off roads, railways connected to S. Korea

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SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's military said it will cut off all roads and railways connected to South Korea starting Wednesday and build "strong defense structures" in the areas in response to South Korea-U.S. military maneuvers.

"A project will be launched first on October 9 to completely cut off roads and railways connected to" South Korea and "fortify the relevant areas of our side with strong defense structures," the general staff of the North Korean People's Army said in a report carried by the Korean Central News Agency.

"For our army to permanently shut off and block the southern border with the ROK, the primary hostile state and invariable principal enemy, in the current situation is a self-defensive measure for inhibiting war and defending the security of the DPRK," it said, referring to South and North Korea by the acronyms of their formal names.

North Korea said it was taking a "more resolute and stronger measure" in response to the "acute military situation" on the Korean Peninsula, citing South Korean military exercises staged near the border and visits by U.S. strategic nuclear assets to the region.

North Korea's military said it sent a telephone message to the U.S. military in South Korea at 9:45 a.m. to "prevent any misjudgment and accidental conflict over the fortification project."

The announcement came amid ongoing tensions on the Korean Peninsula as the North has sent trash-carrying balloons toward the South and publicly disclosed a uranium enrichment facility for the first time.

The U.S. stations some 28,000 troops in South Korea to deter North Korean aggression, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

hague@yna.co.kr
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