South Korea demands apology from Pyongyang for landmine blasts that injured three

South Korea has called on Pyongyang to apologise after landmine explosions injured three people

Blasts in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) earlier this month have triggered a war of words between North and South Korea

South Korea’s military has demanded an apology from North Korea over landmine explosions along their shared border that injured South Korean soldiers earlier this month.

Three South Korean personnel were hurt by blasts in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) — the buffer zone separating the two Koreas — on 21 September.

On Tuesday, South Korea said the explosions, which occurred on its side of the DMZ, were “highly likely” caused by North Korean mines. It said it would take “corresponding measures” in response to what it described as a breach of a decades-old armistice.

North Korea has rejected blame for the blasts, dismissing Seoul’s allegations as “groundless” and a “farce” aimed at heightening tensions on the peninsula.

Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accused South Korea of “cooking up” the allegations for “political and military provocation”.

Kim rejected claims that North Korean troops had crossed the border to plant the mines, calling it “a deliberate and planned strained assertion to shift the responsibility for escalating tension” to North Korea.

Her statement, released by state media on Wednesday, also warned the South to be “prepared for paying price for the farce of their own making.”

South Korea says the mines are believed to have been laid by Pyongyang to reinforce its border. In a statement on Wednesday, it urged North Korea to apologise for the blast and immediately halt such fortification work along the border.

South Korean Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul had earlier said on Tuesday that the blasts were a “clear” violation of the 1953 armistice, which ended active fighting in the Korean War.

That armistice led to the creation of the 4km-wide (2.5mi) DMZ, a buffer strip containing the Military Demarcation Line that marks the land border between the two Koreas.

Over the decades since, intermittent clashes and mine explosions have occurred in the DMZ.

In 2015, two South Korean soldiers were maimed by landmines while patrolling the area. South Korea said the mines had been secretly planted by North Korean soldiers near a South Korean guard post — a claim Pyongyang denied.

Kim referred to that 2015 incident in her Wednesday statement, saying South Korea had used it as a “pretext” to raise tensions, and was doing the same now.

The United Nations Command, which carried out on-site investigations into the blasts with the South Korean military, said it would address the violation of the 1953 armistice “through established Armistice mechanisms”.

“UNC remains committed to maintaining and enforcing the Armistice Agreement and fulfilling its responsibilities to preserve stability and prevent escalation on the Korean Peninsula,” it said.