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World

South Korea blames North Korea for DMZ landmine blast that injured two soldiers

Seoul says North Korean mines caused last week's DMZ explosion that injured two South Korean personnel, violating the armistice — and promises staged 'corresponding measures'.

By Sarah Whitfield · · 2 min read

South Korea’s defence minister said on Tuesday that North Korean mines caused a blast in the Demilitarized Zone last week that injured two South Korean personnel, declaring the incident a violation of the Korean War armistice and warning of a staged military response.

Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul told a parliamentary committee that the mines were North Korean and appeared to have been planted as part of North Korea’s border fortification work near the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) that bisects the DMZ.

“The responsibility lies with North Korea, so we will take corresponding measures,” Kang said, adding that the military had response options available and would implement them in stages. He declined to elaborate. Kang said the key question was whether North Korea had emplaced the mines knowing South Korean troops could enter the area and be harmed.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said a probe conducted with the United Nations Command found an additional North Korean resin anti-personnel mine near the blast site — a different type from those believed to have caused the 21 September explosion. JCS Vice Chairman Kwon Dae-won said the mines did not appear to have drifted, and that the UN Command assessed they were found clearly south of the Military Demarcation Line.

After a similar incident in 2015, Seoul resumed anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts across the DMZ, triggering a military standoff that ended with a high-level inter-Korean agreement.

The latest blast comes as President Lee Jae Myung has sought to draw the North back to dialogue, after Pyongyang declared South Korea an enemy state and abandoned its goal of peaceful reunification. North Korean state media has not commented; Pyongyang’s UN mission and its embassies in Beijing and Singapore did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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