North Korea appears to be dismantling the Donghae Line railway that connects North and South Korea. This move indicates the North’s efforts to sever ties with the South, which it adopted at the end of 2023 when it formally recognized the two Koreas as separate nations.
According to a government official, North Korea has recently been spotted removing sleepers from the Donghae Line railway. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service confirmed this by stating, “We have noticed some signs of dismantlement on the Donghae Line railway and are closely monitoring the situation.” The Donghae Line railway connects Jejin Station in South Korea with Geumgangsan Youth Station in North Korea. The railway was agreed upon following the June 15 South-North Joint Declaration in 2000 and was physically laid in 2006. A test run was conducted in 2007, but regular operations never commenced.
In April 2018, North and South Korean leaders agreed to connect and modernize the Donghae Line and Gyeongui Line railways through the Panmunjom Declaration. This led to initiating a project to connect the Gangneung-Jejin section of the Donghae Line, and it was expected that the inter-Korean railway project would regain momentum. However, the project ended without a deal after the second North Korea-U.S. summit held in Hanoi, Vietnam, in February 2019.
Since then, North Korea has been showing its determination to sever inter-Korean relations, defining the relationship between the two Koreas as “hostile nations” rather than “compatriots” at the end of 2023. They demonstrated this through various actions at the border area.
Earlier in January, North Korea laid mines along the roads of the Gyeongui Line and Donghae Line. In April, it removed streetlights from these roads. The recent removal of sleepers from the Donghae Line was part of these actions.
Meanwhile, North Korea has reportedly been strengthening its defenses, including deploying additional weapons to its frontline guard posts (GPs).
Since declaring the complete dissolution of the 9/19 Comprehensive Military Agreement in November 2023, North Korea has been continuing hostile actions in the border area. In this context, the Gyeongui Line railway is expected to be dismantled soon after the Donghae Line.
Kim Jong Un instructed during the Supreme People’s Assembly held in January, “We must strictly implement step-by-step measures to sever all inter-Korean connections in the border area completely. This includes physically cutting off our section of the Gyeongui Line, which existed to an irrecoverable extent as a symbol of inter-Korean exchange and cooperation.”
