South Korea preparing to force North Korea to apologize over DMZ mine blast

Seoul – South Korea is preparing a response to force North Korea to apologize for a mine blast in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that seriously wounded two South Korean soldiers, a defense ministry spokesperson said Tuesday.

South Korea is also calling on Pyongyang to come to the table to discuss the misalignment of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), which bisects the DMZ, the spokesperson said.

The Sept. 21 blast wounded three South Korean troops, two of them seriously.

The spokesperson, Chung Bin-na, did not specify what measures would be taken in response to the blast, which South Korea has said was caused by North Korean mines, citing the results of a joint investigation with the United Nations Command.

Chung said North Korea must remove the mines it planted in the DMZ south of the MDL, but also said there were differences in the exact line that separates the Korean Peninsula as recognized by the two Koreas.

Differing views of the border line are one factor contributing to tension in the area, Chung said.

Some sections of the MDL, which stretches more than 200 kilometers between the east and west coasts with 1,900 markers, have become difficult to identify after decades of limited access inside the DMZ since it was drawn up in 1953 at the end of the Korean War.

North Korea on Friday rejected as “groundless” Seoul’s accusation that North Korean mines seriously wounded South Korean soldiers in the DMZ and dismissed Seoul’s demand for an apology, state news agency KCNA reported.

Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of the North’s leader Kim Jong Un, said Pyongyang had not deliberately planted mines in the border zone, KCNA reported.