SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Yonhap) -- Recent explosion sounds heard from the northern side of a western border island appear to be linked to North Korea's ongoing work to reinforce its coastal security facilities, a South Korean military official said Tuesday.
North Korea was seen conducting demolition and border fortification work in a border area near Ganghwa Island off South Korea's west coast, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported the previous day.
The media outlet quoted a Ganghwa resident who described hearing massive "booms" nearby, saying that nothing like this had ever happened in all his years living there.
"Explosion sounds are being continuously heard in the North Korean coastal area north of the neutral waters of the Han River estuary on the Ganghwa front," Capt. Jang Do-young, spokesperson of the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), said during a press briefing.
"We judge that the North Korean military is reinforcing its coastal security facilities on the North's side and we are closely monitoring related movements," he added.
Located just northwest of Incheon along the Han River estuary, Ganghwa Island is one of the closest islands to the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) separating the two Koreas.
It is also known as one of the areas where North Korean mines are often washed ashore across the border into South Korean territory following heavy rains.
This undated file photo captures a wide view of a North Korean county, seen from the northernmost tip of Ganghwa Island off South Korea's west coast near the inter-Korean border. (Yonhap)
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