North Korea said on Wednesday it would permanently block its border with South Korea and build frontline defense structures to address “confrontation hysteria” by South Korean and U.S. forces, but did not announce an expected constitutional change to formally declare South Korea its main enemy and codify new national borders .

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While the moves were likely a pressure tactic, it is unclear how they will affect relations with South Korea, as cross-border travel and exchanges have been halted for years.

The North Korean military said it would “completely cut off roads and railways connected to South Korea” and “reinforce relevant areas on our side with strong defensive structures,” according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

The North Korean military described its moves as a “self-defense measure to prevent war and defend the security” of North Korea. It said: “The enemy forces are becoming more and more ruthless in their confrontational hysteria.” She pointed to various war exercises in South Korea, the deployment of strategic US forces and the harsh rhetoric of their rivals.

In this photo provided by the North Korean government on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, Assembly Standing Committee Chairman Choe Ryong Hae speaks during the Supreme People's Assembly in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

The South Korean military said later on Wednesday it would not tolerate any attempt by North Korea to change the status quo. It said South Korea would “overwhelmingly punish” North Korea if it begins provocations. A statement from the South Korean military said North Korea's nuclear and missile programs had threatened peace on the Korean peninsula.

South Korean officials previously said North Korea had already been building anti-tank barriers and strengthening roads on its side of the border since April, in what was believed to be an attempt to bolster its frontline security posture and prevent its soldiers and citizens from defecting to South Korea. In a report to parliament on Tuesday, South Korea's Unification Ministry said North Korea had removed communications on the northern side of the cross-border railways and near lamps and laid mines along the border.

KCNA said earlier Wednesday that the Supreme People's Assembly met for two days this week to change the minimum legal age for North Koreans to work and participate in elections. However, it was not said whether the meeting addressed leader Kim Jong Un's order in January to rewrite the constitution to remove the goal of peaceful unification of Korea, officially declare South Korea the country's “immutable main enemy” and to define the sovereign of the north. territorial area.

The focus of outside attention has been whether North Korea will assert new legal claims over waters off its west coast currently controlled by South Korea. The poorly marked western maritime border has seen three bloody naval battles and two deadly attacks attributed to North Korea in the past 25 years.

Some experts say North Korea may have delayed revising the constitution, but others speculated that it changed the constitution without notice due to its sensitivity.

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Kim's order stunned many North Korean observers because it was seen as a break with his predecessors' long-held dreams of achieving a unified Korea on the North's terms. Experts say Kim is likely aiming to weaken South Korea's voice in the regional nuclear standoff and seek direct deals with the United States. They say Kim also likely hopes to reduce South Korea's cultural influence and strengthen his rule at home.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula are at their highest in years as North Korea continues to conduct a series of provocative weapons tests and South Korea and the United States expand military exercises. KCNA said North Korea tested a long-range artillery system on Tuesday that observers said posed a direct threat to the South Korean capital Seoul, just an hour's drive from the border.