North Korea has recently notified the U.S.-led United Nations Command(UNC) of its ongoing work to install barriers and barbed wire fences in the heavily fortified inter-Korean border area.

According to South Korea’s defense ministry on Monday, North Korea notified the UNC on Wednesday last week that it would resume the installation of barbed wire fences and barriers near the Military Demarcation Line on its side of the Demilitarized Zone(DMZ).

The ministry said it is difficult to determine the North’s intentions, but assessed that the belated notice was a “meaningful message.”

North Korea has been deploying a large number of troops on the northern side of the DMZ since April last year, apparently to build anti-tank barriers. 

The construction efforts halted temporarily in the winter but resumed in the spring.

There is speculation that the latest notice may indicate Pyongyang’s willingness to engage in communication with the UNC or even South Korea.