South Korea’s military has formally demanded an apology from North Korea following two landmine explosions earlier this month in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that wounded three South Korean soldiers. The blasts occurred on September 21 near the Military Demarcation Line in the western sector of the heavily fortified buffer zone separating the two Koreas.
Kang Hyunwoo, director of operations for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a Wednesday briefing that the military “strongly urges” North Korea to apologize for the explosions and take “responsible measures” to prevent recurrence. He called the incident “a clear violation of the Armistice Agreement” that undermines the spirit of existing inter-Korean agreements, adding that it “must be stopped immediately.”
Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul stated that South Korea would consider unspecified “corresponding measures” if a complete investigation confirms North Korea’s responsibility. He did not elaborate on what those measures might entail.
Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, dismissed South Korea’s assessment as a “conspiratorial farce” and accused Seoul of making groundless claims to create a pretext for provocation against Pyongyang. She also criticized the South for broadcasting warnings and firing warning shots at North Korean troops conducting front-line fortification work, insisting that “our soldiers have never crossed the border.” She warned that if South Korean forces fire at North Korean soldiers carrying out the permanent project on the southern border, North Korean border units will take “immediate and merciless retaliatory action.”
The United Nations Command (UNC) said Wednesday that a joint investigation with South Korea’s military had “identified an active Democratic People’s Republic of Korea anti-personnel mine on the ROK side of the Military Demarcation Line.” The UNC determined that an Armistice Agreement violation occurred. The UNC is a US-led multinational force overseeing the armistice that halted the Korean War and administers the southern side of the DMZ.
Source: www.aljazeera.com