South Korea has demanded an apology from North Korea over a landmine blast that injured three soldiers, saying they were hurt by North Korean mines on the southern side of the border.
Kang Hyun-woo, the director of operations at South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff, demanded an apology and “responsible measures” from Pyongyang over the blast, which occurred on ۲۱ September during a search operation south of the border.
He also called for an immediate halt to North Korea’s mine-laying and border fortification, which he said violated the armistice and the spirit of inter-Korean agreements. North Korea would bear “all responsibility” for any future developments, he said.
The incident echoes a ۲۰۱۵ mine blast in the demilitarised zone between the countries that seriously injured two South Korean soldiers and prompted Seoul to resume propaganda broadcasts over loudspeakers. North Korea responded to the move with artillery fire across the border before expressing regret during high-level talks.
The US-led UN command (UNC), which oversees the ۱۹۵۳ armistice that halted but did not end the Korean war, said on Wednesday that a joint investigation with South Korea’s military had identified a live North Korean anti-personnel mine on the southern side of the military demarcation line (MDL), the de facto border.
The UNC said an armistice violation had occurred and that it was addressing the issue through “established armistice mechanisms”.
The explosions occurred about ۱۰ metres south of the MDL on the western front, as troops searched an area where North Korea was suspected of laying mines.
Two blasts went off about a minute apart, seriously injuring a battalion commander, whose foot was reportedly severed at the ankle, and an engineer. A third officer was present and has minor injuries from the explosion.
On Monday, South Korea’s military said interim findings showed the blasts were “highly likely” to have been caused by North Korean mines
North Korea has denied involvement. In a statement carried by state media on Wednesday, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong-un, called the incident “an obvious self-staged farce”.
“Our soldiers have never once crossed the border,” she said, warning that if South Korean troops fired directly at North Korean soldiers, border units would carry out “immediate and merciless retaliation”.
Chris Green, a senior consultant at the International Crisis Group, said the investigation findings would not settle the matter politically because the North would always have “guaranteed plausible deniability”.
There are no working communication channels between the two Koreas. Pyongyang severed ties in ۲۰۲۴, declared South Korea a hostile state and has since laid mines and built fortifications along the border. “Accidental escalation on the Korean peninsula is always just a few steps away and it’s fewer steps now than it was in ۲۰۱۵,” Green said.
The blast presents a challenge for South Korea’s president, Lee Jae Myung, who has sought to revive diplomacy with Pyongyang. Last week, he told the UN general assembly that Seoul would be a “pacemaker” for peace, and urged Washington to ease sanctions in exchange for a freeze on North Korea’s weapons programmes.
The incident has also fuelled political tensions at home. Opposition politicians questioned whether the investigation had been delayed to avoid overshadowing Lee’s UN speech, a suggestion the presidential office denied.
The conservative People Power party has also called for the return of the propaganda loudspeakers, which were switched off and dismantled under Lee last year.
The mine blast adds to other diplomatic difficulties facing Lee. On Monday, Seoul demanded an apology from Ukraine after its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, disclosed the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea.
Seoul said the two sides had agreed to keep the transfer secret, citing the men’s safety and diplomatic and security considerations. Some critics said the secrecy was about not upsetting Pyongyang.
