Following the explosion of a North Korean landmine in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the military announced that it would strengthen its readiness posture by reorganizing the DMZ operational execution system to deter further provocations by North Korea.
On the 8th, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Joint Chiefs of Staff) reported this regarding future plans to respond to DMZ explosions at the National Defense Committee audit of the National Assembly.
It was also reported that in the short term, we will implement a firm response to North Korea in response to damage to our soldiers, including 'physical and non-physical' measures.
In the mid-term, he said, "We will strengthen our capabilities to secure leadership in DMZ operations, including real-time on-site visualization," with the intention of minimizing blind spots in surveillance.
In order to respond to North Korea's activities close to the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), it was announced that it would expand the ground surveillance rate by reinforcing the surveillance equipment of the forward guard units. In addition, the plan is to maintain a surveillance posture by intensively operating aerial assets such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets.
In addition, in connection with the second defense reform, they announced that they would accelerate the transition to a GOP (General Outpost) border operation system based on artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced science and technology.
Regarding the status of North Korea's activities close to the MDL, he explained, "Currently, most of the development of the barren land has been completed and some parts are being converted into 'tactical roads', and construction of obstacles such as barbed wire fences and land mines along the barren land is in progress."
Following North Korean State Affairs Chairman Kim Jong-un's emphasis on "fortifying the southern border," he said, "We are accelerating work close to the MDL," and said, "Construction is expected to be completed by the second half of 2028."
Chairman Jin Young-seung, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in his greeting at the business report that day, regarding the incident in which a landmine planted by the North Korean military exploded south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) on the 21st of last month and seriously injured a South Korean soldier, "It is a clear violation of the armistice agreement and a provocation that threatens the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula," and added, "Our military strongly condemns the illegal and reckless actions of the North Korean regime."
Meanwhile, regarding the Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS, Ulchi Freedom Shield) joint exercise between the ROK and the U.S., which ended early following U.S. President Donald Trump's order to scale back last August, the Joint Chiefs of Staff announced, "We will seek various measures between ROK and the U.S. to minimize the impact of joint exercises and training adjustments on maintaining a solid combined defense posture."
At that time, South Korea and the United States only conducted part 1 of the first (defense) and second (counterattack) exercises and ended the training early. Only half of the 14 originally planned joint outdoor maneuver training exercises at the battalion level or higher in conjunction with UFS, Command Post Exercise (CPX), were conducted.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that the postponed joint outdoor maneuver training "will be carried out within the year in consultation with the US side."
In addition, the 2026 'National Defense Training', a large-scale annual outdoor mobile training hosted by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will be held for two weeks from the 19th to the 30th of this month.
In order to transfer wartime operational control (OPCON), he emphasized, “We will continue our efforts to accelerate the fulfillment of the conditions agreed upon by ROK and the United States.”
They announced that they will pursue the early deployment of high-yield missiles and medium-altitude reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (MUAV) to respond to North Korean nuclear weapons and missiles as core military capabilities necessary for joint defense led by the South Korean military.
The status of the condition-based transfer of wartime operational control and the operational capabilities of the Future Combined Forces Command (Future Combined Forces Command), which will direct wartime ROK-US joint operations, are also discussed at the annual ROK-US Military Committee Meeting (MCM) hosted by the Chairman of the ROK-US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that this year's 51st MCM is scheduled to be held in Washington, D.C., early next month. The results of the MCM are usually reported to the ROK-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) held between the ROK and U.S. defense ministers.
However, this year's SCM schedule has not yet been determined due to the replacement of the Korean Minister of Defense, and it is known that there is a possibility that the schedule may be delayed after the middle of next month.
Minister of National Defense Kang Shin-cheol was asked at the National Assembly audit the previous day whether SCM would be held in November, and answered, "The date has not been set."
