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On Tuesday, South Korea's Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul stated that North Korean mines were responsible for an explosion last week that injured two South Korean personnel in the demilitarised zone (DMZ). Kang emphasised that the incident violated the Korean War armistice agreement and demanded a response from Pyongyang. The mines were found near the military demarcation line that separates the DMZ, as part of North Korea's border fortification work.

Kang stated that the responsibility for the blast lay with North Korea, thus South Korea would implement appropriate measures in stages. The military had response options available, but the Defence Minister did not elaborate on them. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) also conducted a probe in collaboration with the United Nations Command, which discovered an additional North Korean resin anti-personnel mine near the blast site.

This mine, according to JCS vice-chairman Kwon Dae-won, appeared to have been placed deliberately south of the Military Demarcation Line, not drifting into the blast area.

The discovery of the second mine, distinct from the one believed to have caused the September 21 explosion, further strengthened Kang's claim. Following a similar incident in 2015, South Korea resumed anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts across the DMZ, leading to a military standoff that was eventually resolved through a high-level inter-Korean agreement.

The timing of this latest blast coincides with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's efforts to engage North Korea in dialogue. After North Korea declared South Korea an enemy state and abandoned its goal of peaceful reunification, the blast adds to the tension. North Korean state media has not commented on the incident, and North Korea's missions to the UN and embassies in Beijing and Singapore did not respond to an emailed request for comment.