North Korea refutes landmine accusations, Kim Yo Jong calls South Korea's demand for apology 'abhorrent'

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the Pyongyang authorities on the 2nd dismissed as "baseless" Seoul's recent accusation that North Korea secretly planted landmines that caused serious injuries to South Korean soldiers in the demilitarized zone on the border between the two Koreas, and rejected Seoul's request for an apology.

The report pointed out that Kim Yo-jong, the sister of the influential North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said that Pyongyang did not deliberately lay landmines in the border areas between the two Koreas. According to a statement published by North Korea's Central News Agency, Kim Yo Jong said that South Korea made an unfounded conclusion that the explosion was caused by someone deliberately planting a landmine.

Kim Yo Jong said: "They (the South Korean government) even asked for an 'apology'. It's really abhorrent."

South Korea said this week that a North Korean landmine explosion seriously injured two South Korean soldiers conducting reconnaissance missions in the border area between the two Koreas. The South Korean military demanded an apology from North Korea and a halt to border reinforcement projects, and said it would take "corresponding" actions in response.

The landmine explosion on the border between the two Koreas occurred on September 21. The South Korean military has jointly investigated with the "United Nations Command" (United Nations Command), which supervises the Korean War armistice agreement. On September 30, the "United Nations Allied Command" stated that the landmine incident violated the armistice agreement.

But Kim Yo-jong said that North Korea's purpose of strengthening the border area is to permanently seal the border so that "even wild animals cannot enter or exit"... "How could they (South Korea) think that we would do such a thing (referring to detonating landmines) to deal with them?"

North Korea has become increasingly hostile to South Korea in recent years. In addition to no longer regarding reunification as a national goal, North Korea also calls South Korea its "main enemy."