Three South Korean soldiers injured in DMZ blast

SEOUL: Three people, including South Korean soldiers, were injured in a suspected mine blast inside the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), South Korea's Yonhap TV reported on Monday (Sep 21).

The DMZ, which has divided the peninsula since the 1950 to 1953 Korean War ended with an armistice, is among the most heavily mined places in the world.

"A soldier was seriously injured during an operation in the DMZ involving the 25th Infantry Division," a military official said, referring to the buffer zone separating the two Koreas.

Yonhap TV reported that three soldiers were injured in the incident and were taken to the Armed Forces Capital Hospital.

It was not yet clear whether the mine was planted by North Korean forces or belonged to the South Korean military, Yonhap TV said.

Around 800,000 mines are estimated to be buried around the area, according to military data cited by the Yonhap news agency, many dating to the Korean War, although mine-laying has continued in recent years.

In 2024, after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un designated South Korea as his country's "principal enemy", Pyongyang's military spent months laying mines and building anti-tank barriers along the border as part of efforts to permanently seal off the frontier.