South Korea proposes military talks with North Korea to ease border tensions

South Korea’s defence ministry formally proposed military talks with North Korea on Friday to “mutually confirm the precise location” of their land border and discuss restoring military communication channels, as tensions simmer over a deadly DMZ landmine blast.

Kim Hong-cheol, deputy defence minister for policy, told reporters the talks would aim to pin down the exact line of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) and prevent accidental clashes in border areas, AFP reports.

The ministry warned it was difficult to predict “what further incidents could occur if this situation is allowed to continue unaddressed”, and said “three-way talks involving the United Nations Command would also be possible”, with “specific dates and locations” discussable through Panmunjom. Kim said Seoul hoped for “a positive response from North Korea”, though a similar proposal made last year received no reply from Pyongyang, AFP and Reuters report.

The trigger was the Sept 21 landmine explosion inside the DMZ that injured three South Korean soldiers, two seriously. Seoul’s military concluded the mines were buried south of the MDL by the North — a finding Pyongyang has rejected, dismissing calls for an apology, Reuters reports.

The proposal follows a week of escalation: on Thursday Kim Yo Jong said the North would place border loudspeakers on standby “within days”, while Seoul’s foreign ministry said it would send a letter to the president of the UN Security Council calling the incident a “clear violation of the armistice agreement”, AFP reports.