Military knew of suspected NK mine-laying a year before DMZ blast

South Korea's military identified suspected North Korean mine-laying activity south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) a year before an explosion injured three soldiers, according to documents released during a parliamentary audit. Satellite imagery collected on September 23, 2025, showed the suspected mine-laying in the Army's 25th Division sector, which was reported to senior defense officials by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) on September 24, 2025.

The assessment was first discussed in person with then-JCS Chairman Jin Young-seung the following day, and then-Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back received a text message and a briefing after returning from overseas. The reports also warned of possible further MDL incursions, culminating in an incident on September 21, 2025, where three soldiers were injured while clearing a new search route for a United Nations Command (UNC) field inspection in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

Brief written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.