N Korea denies planting mines that injured S Koreans

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un yesterday rejected South Korean findings that North Korea planted land mines that injured three South Korean soldiers last week and threatened to retaliate if the South fires on the North’s troops fortifying the border.

The incident could further inflame tensions between the Koreas, which have no working military hotlines or other emergency communications channels as North Korea hardens its stance toward Seoul while expanding its military nuclear program.

Three South Korean soldiers were injured in two explosions on Monday last week near the military demarcation line in the western section of the Demilitarized Zone, a heavily fortified border buffer zone between the Koreas that is commonly known as the DMZ.

A UN Command soldier looks at a view of North Korea near the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone on Oct. 4, 2022.

Photo: AFP

The statement by Kim Yo-jong came after South Korea’s military on Monday announced a preliminary assessment that the blasts were caused by North Korean mines following a joint inspection of the site with the US-led UN Command.

The South Korean joint chiefs said South Korean and UN investigators on Tuesday discovered another North Korean mine during a follow-up inspection. The UN Command yesterday said that North Korea had violated the armistice agreement that ended fighting in the 1950-1953 Korean War. The agreement prohibits both sides from committing any hostile act “within, from, or against” the DMZ and bans military or civilian personnel from crossing the military demarcation line without authorization from the armistice commission.

The UN Command said it was addressing the violation through established mechanisms, but did not elaborate.

Kang Hyun-woo, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff’s director of operations, said the military “strongly urges” North Korea to apologize for the blasts and take “responsible measures” to prevent a recurrence. South Korean Minister of National Defense Kang Shin-chul said the South would consider unspecified “corresponding measures” if a complete investigation confirms the North was responsible.

Kim Yo-jong, who is considered possibly the second most powerful figure in Pyongyang, called the South Korean assessment a “conspiratorial farce,” accusing Seoul of making groundless claims to create a pretext for provocation against the North.

North Korea in the past few years has added mines, anti-tank barriers and other front-line fortifications, raising concerns in the South about the growing presence of North Korean soldiers near the border. Kim Yo-jong criticized the South for broadcasting warnings and firing warning shots at North Korean troops conducting frontline fortification work, insisting “our soldiers have never crossed the border.”

“If the [South Korean] military gangsters fire at our soldiers carrying on the permanent project for the southern border, not warning shots, our border units will take immediate and merciless retaliatory action,” she said.

The recent explosions, which took place about 10m south of the military demarcation line, came during an operation to establish a patrol route through a densely vegetated area. The route was intended to allow future inspections with the UN Command after South Korea since last year detected “terrain changes” that might have resulted from North Korean minelaying.