North Korea has removed street lamps along two inter-Korean roads, in an apparent move to completely close the routes once seen as symbols of cooperation and exchange between the two Koreas.
 
According to the South Korean military last month, the North began dismantling dozens of street lamps along the central Gyeongui Road and the Donghae Road on the eastern coast.
 
The latest move comes after North Korean troops were seen installing mines on the two roads in January amid increasingly strained inter-Korean relations.

The unification ministry in response emphasized that the North must repay relevant loans from the South Korean government, calling the dismantling of the street lamps a violation of the spirit of the inter-Korean agreement.
 
While some suggested that the North could be using the street lamps for much-needed scrap metal due to its harsh economic conditions, a unification ministry official said it could also serve as a further signal of its determination to sever all inter-Korean relations, including reunions of separated families and humanitarian aid.

The official also noted that North Korea still has an unspecified amount of outstanding debt to South Korea as most of the cost of building roads and railway tracks in the two sections that opened in 2004 were provided through loans from the South, and that North Korea has a duty to repay them.