North Korea Denies Planting Mines in Demilitarized Zone
North Korea rejected South Korean findings that it planted landmines in the Demilitarized Zone, threatening powerful counteraction against any territorial violations.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has condemned South Korean findings regarding a September 21 landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone, labeling the investigation a farce and a grave provocation. The blast injured three South Korean soldiers, two of whom were seriously wounded.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff and the United Nations Command concluded that North Korea deliberately planted resin-cased antipersonnel mines south of the Military Demarcation Line. Consequently, the Ministry of National Defense of South Korea is seeking to formally cite North Korea for violating the Armistice Agreement and has demanded an apology and the removal of the mines.
Pyongyang denied responsibility, claiming Seoul fabricated the incident to tarnish its international image and frame its border fortifications as a military invasion. The North Korean government rejected calls for inter-Korean talks from Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, characterizing the dispute as an exercise of military sovereignty.
As South Korea conducted mine-clearing operations along the border, North Korea warned that it would not tolerate a violation of even a millimeter of its territory. The ministry threatened that its border guard forces would take immediate and powerful counteraction if South Korean forces crossed the border. The conflict is further complicated by discrepancies in border mapping, as most original 1953 marker posts have deteriorated.
