首尔：朝鲜官方媒体周三（10月21日）报道，朝鲜已命令其边境部队，若韩国军队威胁其安全，将采取“迅速而果断的行动”，增加了在高度武装的边境线上发生冲突的风险。
SEOUL: North Korea has told its border troops to take "prompt and resolute action" if South Korean forces threaten their safety, state media said on Wednesday (Oct 21), raising the risk of a clash along the heavily armed frontier.
此报道是在首尔一天前承诺，若平壤采取行动加强其在边境的军事态势，将“果断”惩罚平壤的任何进一步挑衅之后发布的。
The report came a day after Seoul pledged to punish "resolutely" any further provocation by Pyongyang if North Korea acts on threats to strengthen its military posture along the border.
朝鲜中央通讯社报道，朝鲜人民军元帅朴正天周二在金与正陪同下，视察了朝韩边境的防御工事，金与正是领导人金正恩的有影响力的妹妹。
North Korean Army Marshal Pak Jong Chon inspected fortifications on the border with South Korea on Tuesday, accompanied by Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, KCNA reported.
朝鲜中央通讯社报道，金与正表示，新的火力部队已“就位”于边境。
Kim Yo Jong said new firepower units had "taken their firing positions" at the border, KCNA reported.
自2024年4月平壤开始加固边境以来，朝韩之间的紧张局势有所上升。两国由1953年朝鲜战争以停战协议结束时设立的非军事区隔开。
Tensions between North and South Korea have risen since Pyongyang began fortifying its border in April 2024. The two countries are separated by the Demilitarized Zone that was established when the Korean War ended in an armistice in 1953.
首尔表示，平壤今年已向边境派遣多达7000名工人，并有约50次越过将非军事区一分为二的军事分界线，进入韩国一侧边境。
Seoul says Pyongyang has sent up to 7,000 workers to the border this year, with about 50 crossings of the Military Demarcation Line, which bisects the DMZ, to South Korea's side of the border.
周三，朝鲜否认了首尔的指控，朴正天将该说法驳斥为旨在推卸责任的“荒谬断言”，朝鲜中央通讯社报道。
On Wednesday, North Korea rejected Seoul's allegations, with Pak dismissing the claim as an "absurd assertion" designed to shift blame, KCNA reported.
朴正天表示，朝鲜军队比任何人都更清楚边境在哪里，只是在其领土内做其应做之事，并敦促士兵将边境打造成“铜墙铁壁”。
The North Korean army knew where the border lay "better than any others" and was only doing what it should within its own territory, Pak said, urging soldiers to turn the border into an "impregnable fortress".
韩国表示，朝鲜地雷导致上个月发生一起边境爆炸，造成其两名士兵重伤，并呼吁平壤暂停加固工作。
South Korea said North Korean mines caused a border blast last month that seriously wounded two of its soldiers, and called on Pyongyang to suspend the fortification work.