South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said on the 29th that it had found a North Korean plastic anti-personnel mine near the site of a mine blast inside the Demilitarized Zone. The discovery indicates that four mines, rather than the three initially estimated, had been concentrated in the area, strengthening the possibility that they were laid deliberately. Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul told the National Assembly's National Defense Committee that the case was "a clear violation of the Armistice Agreement."
The JCS found the mine during an on-site investigation in the DMZ sector guarded by the Army's 25th Infantry Division, conducted jointly with the United Nations Command. The mine is believed to be a plastic anti-personnel mine, different from the type described by the soldiers who took part in the operation. Until the previous day, the military had assessed that a total of three mines had been in the area around the blast site — two that detonated and one unexploded mine spotted by the soldiers.
Appearing before the committee, Kang was asked by Rep. Yoo Yong-won of the People Power Party whether the newly found mine was indeed different from what the soldiers had described. "As far as I know, that is correct. Four, not three as previously estimated," Kang said. Yoo pressed further, saying four mines had been clustered in a very narrow area and asking whether such a cluster could result from mines drifting rather than being laid. Kang said the possibility was low, lending weight to the view that the North Korean military had laid them deliberately.
Military authorities said in firmer terms than the previous day's announcement, which had described it as "highly likely," that the mines that exploded belonged to the North Korean military. They cited the absence of any trace of South Korean mine-laying in the area, the discovery in September last year of evidence that North Korean troops had laid mines nearby, and the finding of an object near the blast site believed to be a North Korean plastic anti-personnel mine. On the timing, however, they estimated that the mines had been installed more than a year before September last year.
Military authorities also stressed their resolve to respond firmly to North Korea. "The violation of the Armistice Agreement is clear, and the responsibility accordingly lies with North Korea," Kang said. "We will take corresponding measures." He declined to elaborate on specific steps, saying that was also an operational matter.
North Korea is believed to have laid the mines in the course of fortifying the area near the Military Demarcation Line. "It appears they were laid in front of the MDL to fortify the border," Kang said. "They are laying mines first and installing fences, turning the border line into a fortified zone altogether." Following an instruction from leader Kim Jong-un in 2023, the North Korean military has been carrying out fortification work near the MDL since the following year. Suspicions have also been raised that in some sectors of the western front, the work encroached south of the MDL.
At the committee session, opposition lawmakers raised suspicions that the government had deliberately withheld information and criticized what they called an inadequate response by military authorities. Rep. Cheon Ha-ram of the Reform Party suggested that the presidential political schedule had been placed ahead of national security so that President Lee Jae-myung could advocate "peace without fighting" at the U.N. General Assembly. He also questioned why the National Security Council had not been convened after the mine blast. Rep. Yoo Young-ha of the People Power Party pressed Kang on his accountability, saying he had never once spoken of his own responsibility for the soldiers under his command who were wounded. Rep. Sung Il-jong called Kang and other military officials present "political soldiers."
Lawmakers of the Democratic Party of Korea rebutted the opposition's criticism as a "groundless conspiracy theory." Rep. Kim Sung-hoe of the Democratic Party said some were spreading conspiracy theories to gain political advantage, adding that this was precisely what shook national security. Rep. Park Sun-won, the ruling party's committee liaison, countered by noting that military authorities had initially prepared an on-site investigation with the UNC in June, which was later postponed, asking why it would have been pushed back to September if the president's U.N. speech had been a consideration. Rep. Kim Byung-joo argued that legal action should be taken against Rep. Han Dong-hoon, an independent, for disclosing the date of the DMZ on-site investigation, the 27th, which was classified, saying he had exposed a matter involving soldiers' lives.
Kang said there had been "no delay in the announcement and no concealment whatsoever." He added that the military would thoroughly determine the exact cause and explain it transparently to the public, and that the state would take responsibility to the end so that those wounded while carrying out their duties could focus solely on treatment and recovery. The committee, meanwhile, decided to adopt a resolution condemning North Korea.
At a Cabinet meeting, Lee said there could be no dividing line between the ruling and opposition parties on security. "I hope there will be no more endangering national security by stoking groundless conspiracy theories in connection with this matter," he said.
