SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Wednesday strongly demanded North Korea apologize and take responsible measures over a recent blast caused by North Korean mines in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and urged Pyongyang to immediately stop its border-hardening activities.
"This constitutes a blatant violation of the Armistice Agreement and undermines the spirit of existing inter-Korean agreements and must be halted immediately," Lt. Gen. Kang Hyun-woo, chief director of operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), said in a press briefing.
"North Korea must immediately cease activities that heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula, such as its so-called 'border fortification.' We strongly demand an apology and responsible measures from the North," Kang said.
"We make it explicitly clear that North Korea bears full responsibility for any future consequences that may arise," he added.
The statement came after Seoul determined North Korean resin antipersonnel mines deliberately planted on the southern side of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) were highly likely the cause of the Sept. 21 mine blast.
Three South Korean soldiers were injured, with two of them suffering critical injuries.
The JCS official's statement came shortly after the U.N. Command, which has been conducting a joint investigation with the South's military into the incident, said it finds an Armistice Agreement violation has occurred in the mine explosion.
This photo, released by South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff on Sept. 29, 2026, shows a North Korean resin antipersonnel mine that the South Korean military found the same day near the site of mine explosions inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas that left three South Korean service members injured. The discovery came a day after the military said North Korean land mines were "highly likely" the cause of the Sept. 21 blast south of the Military Demarcation Line. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
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