Seems to be a defensive measure.

Symbolic measure maybe.

Like, how many roads are there that connect the two areas? Do they get that much traffic? What real material effect will this have on the flow of people, things or either country’s economy?

This makes sense on multiple levels, both from an ideological level and also from a pragmatic standpoint.

This end of detente visibly began with the demolition of that Unification Arch a while back and pausing the reconciliation initiatives like the “unified Korea” Olympic teams since the 2010s. This recent turn away from the goal of “unification” is a rather important ideological step for the DPRK because that aspiration, while noble, had always risked putting the cart before the horse, as the history of 20th century socialism showed.

In the DDR, the desperation for “unification” highlighted by the reception to BRD Ostpolitik prevented the development of an independent national identity. This meant that when capitalist restoration succeeded, the DDR was unilaterally annexed into the BRD by Kohl, who infamously managed to warp the “We are the People” protests into a “We are One People” color revolution. Any semblance of bargaining power for these “one people” of the DDR disappeared with the state. There was then the disgusting phenomenon of BRD landlords swarming into the former DDR to reclaim their “old” property and land, a kind of “Nakba” narrative except the fascists were the ones holding onto the keys. The DDR is a cautionary tale that unification cannot be done at any cost. In truth, it would be better for the Korean peninsula to be permanently fractured for the foreseeable future if the only alternative for the DPRK is a DDR-style “unification.” As such, it wouldn’t hurt to ideologically de-emphasize the concept of “unification” within Korean society, which ending this detente will contribute towards.

From a pragmatic level, there is actually little benefit for the DPRK to maintaining relations with the current regime in South Korea. Its present leadership has completely embraced South Korea’s vassal status not just to the US but also doubly to Japan, surrendering unilaterally on longstanding issues like comfort women and just this week inviting Japanese troops to be stationed on Korean soil without requiring its legislature’s permission. This disregard for South Korea’s dignity is plainly to forcibly bind South Korean foreign policy to the US-Japanese military bloc in the New Cold War. Remarkably, this is happening under a Korean Milei who won the 2022 election by a mere 0.73% - who has eliminated any South Korean foreign policy autonomy through the stirring electoral mandate of a 247K vote margin of 32.5M.

Given this context, the DPRK faces minimal downsides in reducing relations. This opens the door for future engagement if a more reconciliation-focused leader, similar to Moon Jae-In, comes to power. In such a scenario, the DPRK could easily propose reconnecting severed ties, including these literal severed roads, which would generate positive headlines in South Korea for that counterpart’s approval ratings without making significant concessions.