Media in North Korea are emphasizing national unity under leader Kim Jong Un as the country marks the 79th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party on Thursday. The anniversary comes as Pyongyang is starting to block road and railway links to South Korea.

State-run media say members of the party leadership visited a facility featuring the party's history on Wednesday, and a celebratory event with fireworks will be held in the capital on Thursday evening.

The party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, stressed in a front-page editorial on Thursday that all the people in the country are firmly united behind Kim.

The General Staff of the Korean People's Army said on Wednesday that the danger of war is ever-escalating in the area along the southern border.

It announced that the North will start work to completely cut road and railway links to South Korea and fortify defensive structures on its side of the border.

Some South Korean experts say the North may be planning to gradually expand such structures along the border of the two Koreas by stressing a threat from South Korea and the United States.