Defense Minister of the Republic of Korea calls on North Korea for negotiations after mine incident

Defense Minister of the Republic of Korea Kang Shin-chul called on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to come to the negotiating table after the South Korean military announced the likely discovery of a North Korean mine in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two countries. Yonhap agency reports this.

“Against the background of this case, we need to check each other. Sit down at the negotiating table - I intend to strongly insist on this. I’m not just talking about the military demarcation line, but, in fact, the communication system itself is much more important,” he said.

The minister noted that he intends to seek effective measures to restore and strengthen inter-Korean communication channels.

The reason for his statement was an incident in the demilitarized zone, where an alleged explosion of two mines injured three people, including two South Korean soldiers. The military subsequently discovered another unexploded mine in the same area, and then announced the discovery of a fourth mine, which the South Korean side linked to the DPRK.