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South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff demanded that North Korea apologise and take responsible measures for landmine blasts in the Demilitarized Zone that injured three soldiers on September 21 while they conducted routine search operations south of the Military Demarcation Line. Lt. Gen. Kang Hyun-woo chief director of operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff stated that the mines were highly likely North Korean resin antipersonnel devices deliberately placed on the southern side and that Pyongyang must immediately cease activities that heighten tensions such as its border fortification. The statement issued on September 30 made clear that North Korea bears full responsibility for any future consequences that may arise according to officials who spoke to Yonhap News Agency.
The explosions which occurred about a minute apart seriously wounded two of the soldiers including a reconnaissance battalion commander who lost a foot at the ankle while the third sustained minor injuries a Joint Chiefs of Staff assessment found. Investigators later identified at least four land mines at and near the site including two that detonated one spotted during the retreat and another uncovered in a joint probe with the United Nations Command. The incident took place in the western section of the DMZ a buffer zone established by the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War according to multiple accounts from South Korean authorities.
A joint investigation by South Korean forces and the United Nations Command confirmed an active North Korean anti-personnel mine on the Republic of Korea side of the demarcation line describing the placement as a breach of the armistice agreement. The United Nations Command said in a statement that it would address the violation through established armistice mechanisms while South Korean Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul indicated that corresponding measures would be considered once the probe concludes. The findings were reported across outlets including Al Jazeera and The Korea Times which detailed how the discovery reinforced Seoul’s position on the source of the blasts.
North Korea rejected the accusations with Kim Yo-jong the influential sister of leader Kim Jong-un calling Seoul’s claims an obvious self-staged farce and a groundless conspiracy intended as political and military provocation. In a statement carried by state media she asserted that North Korean soldiers have never once crossed the border and warned that if South Korean troops fire directly at North Korean soldiers border units would take immediate and merciless retaliatory action. The denial came hours before South Korea’s formal demand and was echoed in reports from The Guardian and Kyodo News which highlighted Pyongyang’s consistent rejection of involvement.
The episode recalls a 2015 landmine incident in the DMZ that seriously maimed two South Korean soldiers prompting Seoul to resume loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts along the border until an agreement was reached in which the North expressed regret though it later denied that amounted to an apology according to coverage in The New York Times. That earlier event escalated tensions to the point of artillery exchanges before talks defused the situation but failed to produce what South Korean leaders described as a clear apology. Analysts have noted that such incidents often follow cycles of provocation and response along the heavily mined border where both sides have engaged in fortification over decades.
South Korea’s military has linked the latest blasts to North Korea’s ongoing efforts to bolster its side of the border including the burial of additional mines near the demarcation line which it says undermine the spirit of past inter-Korean agreements. The Joint Chiefs of Staff urged an immediate halt to these activities emphasising that they constitute a clear violation of the armistice and contribute to elevated risks in the region. Officials have stressed that the confirmed presence of North Korean mines on southern territory leaves Pyongyang accountable for the injuries and any potential escalation that follows.
