North Korea is blowing up parts of the inter-Korean road on its side of the border, South Korea says

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has blown up parts of an inter-Korean road on its side of the heavily militarized border between the two Koreas, South Korea's joint chiefs of staff said Tuesday.

Around midday, parts of the road north of the military demarcation line that separates the countries were blown up, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement sent to the media.

The South Korean military has increased surveillance and its response capabilities, it said. Seoul warned on Monday that Pyongyang was preparing to blow up the streets.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula have escalated amid an escalating war of words after the North accused its rival of sending drones over the country's capital, Pyongyang.

North Korea said Friday that the drones had distributed a “huge number” of anti-North leaflets over the city, constituting a political and military provocation that could lead to armed conflict.

A spokesman for the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff declined Monday to answer questions about whether the South Korean military or civilians had flown the suspected drones.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a meeting with defense and security officials on Monday to discuss how to respond to “the enemy's serious provocation that violates the sovereignty of the DPRK,” state news agency KCNA reported. DPRK is the abbreviation for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea.