South Korea demands apology from Pyongyang for landmine blasts that injured three

SEOUL, September 30 — North Korea’s influential sister, Kim Yo Jong, dismissed a South Korean allegation that her nation was responsible for landmine explosions last week that injured three soldiers, according to state media. The claim that the September 21 blasts in the countries’ Demilitarised Zone, or DMZ, were a result of North Korean actions was described by Kim Yo Jong as “too low and dirty,” as reported by KCNA news agency.

One soldier suffered a severe injury, losing a foot, due to the explosions in the heavily mined buffer zone that has separated the two Koreas since their 1953 armistice. The South Korean Defense Ministry concluded that North Korean mines were highly suspected of causing the incidents, stating it as a clear violation of the armistice agreement.

South Korean Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul vowed to take appropriate measures, while Kim Yo Jong accused Seoul of creating false claims as a pretext for political and military provocations against North Korea. Since 2024, North Korea has increased its military presence along the frontier, including laying mines and constructing anti-tank barriers, as part of efforts to permanently seal off the border.

During this operation, Pyongyang also destroyed northern sections of previously inactive inter-Korean roads. Kang stated that the North Korean mines involved in the September 21 incident were likely part of Pyongyang’s border fortification activities. In 2015, two South Korean soldiers were gravely wounded in a landmine explosion on the southern side of the DMZ, with one soldier losing both legs. The incident led Seoul to resume anti-Pyongyang loudspeaker broadcasts along the border.