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| 2024-12-03 17:05:57
N Korea-transmission towers
S. Korean-built transmission towers collapsing after N. Korea cuts power lines for Kaesong complex
SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Yonhap) -- The unification ministry on Tuesday unveiled footage showing transmission towers collapsing after North Korea cut power lines installed by South Korea to supply electricity to a now-shuttered joint industrial park in the North's border city of Kaesong.
Since Nov. 24, the South Korean military has detected North Korean troops removing part of the power lines connecting transmission towers along the now-disconnected Gyeongui road, a move seen as preparations to demolish transmission towers.
According to footage released by the ministry, two transmission towers, built on the North's side of the inter-Korean road, fell down after the power lines were removed. The videos were filmed by the South Korean military late last month.
In December 2006, Korea Electric Power Corp., South Korea's power monopoly, built a total of 48 transmission towers on the Gyeongui road, including 15 on the North's side, to supply electricity to the Kaesong Industrial Complex. But the power supply has been suspended since February 2016 due to North Korea's fourth nuclear test the preceding month.
North Korea's move to cut the power lines appears to be aimed at severing its ties with South Korea as the North's leader Kim Jong-un defined inter-Korean relations as those between "two states hostile to each other."
"The transmission towers are presumed to have fallen, unable to bear the weight of power lines being removed," a government official said.
Footage also showed a North Korean worker falling from a transmission tower while working on cutting the power lines.
"The video shows North Korea's dismal human situation, where a North Korean is working without being protected by minimum safety measures," an official at the unification ministry said.
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