The North has built a wall along the border with South Korea

New satellite images show that North Korea is building what appears to be a wall in several places near its border with South Korea. Images analyzed by the BBC also show land inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) cleared. Experts have said that this may be a violation of the long-standing ceasefire with South Korea.

The DMZ is a four-km (two-and-a-half-mile) wide buffer zone between North and South Korea. North and South Korea are still technically at war. Because no peace treaty was signed between them. The South Korean media reported that the North’s suspicious activities were seen at a time when tensions between the two countries were rising. “At this point, we can only speculate that North Korea is trying to build up its military presence and reinforcements along the border,” says Shreyas Reddy, a correspondent for the Seoul-based expert site NK News. According to experts, the current activity is unusual.

The UN has been repeatedly imposing sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear activities. The international community has been emphasizing that the sanctions will not be lifted until North Korea stops its nuclear activities. However, the North has been keeping a condition that nuclear activities can be stopped only if the sanctions on it are lifted.

Due to the sanctions, there is also a lack of essential items in North Korea. North Korea has also repeatedly requested the international community to lift the sanctions imposed on it. However, those requests have been ignored. In recent times, China, Russia and other countries have been expressing their sympathy for North Korea. These countries have been defending Pyongyang indirectly by using the veto on the resolution brought by the United Nations against North Korea.

North Korea’s nuclear weapons are a matter of concern for the world community and especially for Western countries including the US. Despite US warnings, North Korea has continued to test nuclear weapons. Donald Trump held a historic summit with Kim Jong Un during his tenure to curb the North’s nuclear weapons program. However, those talks ended inconclusively.

North Korea has indicated that it will cooperate with Russia after China in recent times. Both countries have agreed to help each other in case of attack against any country. This agreement was made during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Pyongyang this week. In the war against Ukraine, North Korea has already announced that it will provide various weapons to Russia.

The agreement between North Korea and Russia has shocked Japan, South Korea and other countries. South Korea has warned that it may supply arms to Ukraine in response to the agreement between the two countries. However, the Russian president has warned that if South Korea provides weapons to Ukraine, it will be a grave mistake.