Important Takeaways:

• The General Staff of the Korean People’s Army said the move was a “response to the grave situation in which the imminent danger of war is escalating day by day along the southern border”
• North Korea said it would fortify its side of the de facto border with “strong defense structures,” without elaborating.
• A “telephone message” communicating its intentions was sent to U.S. forces “to prevent any misjudgment and accidental conflict over the fortification project,” the army said.
• This week, the North Korean leader twice threatened to use nuclear weapons on the South if provoked.
• The South Korean defense ministry said the latest announcement likely was a continuation of the North’s efforts to severe inter-Korean connections—physical and symbolic—since April.
• The North Korean notification was sent via an existing channel to the U.S.-led United Nations Command, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said on Wednesday, citing military sources. Pyongyang said its DMZ fortification project would involve a large number of personnel, heavy equipment and “explosive work,” the report said.

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