South Korea requests apology from North Korea for landmine incidents injuring soldiers

Explosions in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) earlier this month have led to escalating tensions between North and South Korea. South Korea's military has demanded an apology from North Korea for landmine blasts along their shared border that injured South Korean soldiers earlier this month. Three South Korean personnel were injured by explosions in the DMZ, a buffer zone separating the two Koreas, on 21 September. South Korea stated on Tuesday that the blasts, which occurred on its side of the DMZ, were "highly likely" caused by North Korean mines. It vowed to take "corresponding measures" for what it described as a violation of a decades-old armistice. North Korea has denied responsibility for the blasts, labeling Seoul's claims as "groundless" and a "farce" intended to escalate tensions on the peninsula. Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accused South Korea of fabricating the claims for "political and military provocation." She denied suggestions that North Korean forces had crossed the border to plant the mines, describing it as a "deliberate and planned strained assertion to shift the responsibility for escalating tension" to North Korea. Her statement, published in state media on Wednesday, also warned the South to be "prepared for paying price for the farce of their own making." South Korea believes the mines were laid by Pyongyang to strengthen its border. In a statement on Wednesday, it called for North Korea to apologize for the blast and to cease such fortification activities along the border. South Korean Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul previously stated on Tuesday that the blasts constituted a "clear" violation of the 1953 armistice, which ended active combat in the Korean War. This armistice led to the establishment of the 4km-wide (2.5mi) DMZ, a buffer zone containing the Military Demarcation Line that marks the land border between the two Koreas. Over the decades, sporadic clashes and mine explosions have occurred in the DMZ. In 2015, two South Korean soldiers were injured by landmines while patrolling the area, which South Korea claimed had been secretly planted by North Korean soldiers near a South Korean guard post, a claim that Pyongyang denied. Kim referenced the 2015 incident in her statement on Wednesday, asserting that South Korea had used it as a "pretext" to escalate tensions, and were repeating the same actions now. The United Nations Command, which conducted on-site investigations into the blasts with the South Korean military, stated 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 added.