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By Kim Seung-yeon
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.
The statement by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) 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.
Lt. Gen. Kang Hyun-woo, chief director of operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), delivers a statement to media at the defense ministry headquarters in Yongsan, Seoul, on Sept. 30, 2026. (Yonhap)
"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 latest statement marks the military's first official response directed at Pyongyang over the land mine blast.
North Korea denied its involvement in a statement issued Wednesday by Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of its leader Kim Jong-un, accusing Seoul of fabricating the findings and warning of "merciless" retaliation if the South takes any corresponding actions.
The JCS' statement came on the heels of an announcement by the U.N. Command (UNC) finding that an Armistice Agreement violation has occurred in the mine explosion. The UNC said it was addressing the violation through established armistice mechanisms.
The UNC oversees the enforcement of the armistice agreement that halted the 1950-53 Korean War.
The UNC also reaffirmed preliminary findings from a joint probe with the South Korean military, which identified an active North Korean land mine on the south's side of the MDL.
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)
elly@yna.co.kr
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