(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Hyo-jung = The military finally determined on the 5th that the explosion that occurred in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the Western Front on the 21st of last month was caused by a land mine planted by North Korea south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL).
Accordingly, the military carried out a surprise operation on this day to remove the North Korean minefield south of the MDL, which was the cause of the explosion. This is our military's first practical measure in response to a North Korean landmine explosion in the DMZ.
Deputy Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Kwon Dae-won said in a briefing on the final investigation results that day, "Based on the results of the joint UNC investigation and scientific evidence, we have finally determined that our soldiers carrying out normal DMZ operations south of the MDL were seriously injured by plastic anti-infantry mines that North Korea installed south of the MDL under the pretext of so-called border fortification work."
Deputy Director Kwon explained that this decision was made by combining the evaluations of the military authorities and the UNC regarding ▲ the explosion point confirmed through the investigation, ▲ the type of land mine and who owned it, and ▲ whether or not a land mine was buried.
First, as a result of determining the explosion point based on the satellite navigation system (GPS), it was confirmed that both the first and second explosion sites and the actual North Korean military Suji anti-infantry mine discovered at the accident site on the 29th of last month were located south of the MDL.
Deputy Director Kwon said, “The UN Command and the joint intelligence investigation team ultimately used GPS to determine that the three points were approximately 10 meters south of the MDL, which violated the armistice agreement.”
In addition, in the first and second component tests conducted by the National Institute of Forensic Science (National Forensic Service) on the injured party's equipment, trinitrotoluene (TNT), thermosetting resin components, and brown foreign substances, which are evidence showing that it is a North Korean landmine, were discovered. The National Forensic Service finally responded to the military authorities with these analysis results early this month.
In addition, the fragments from the bodies of the injured were compared with North Korean anti-infantry mines collected from the Imjin River in the past, and it was confirmed that they were identical.
In addition, as a result of the investigation, the military concluded that the North Korean military's mine was not lost but was buried.
The basis for this is that the soldiers at the scene of the accident stated that the mines they saw were buried about 5 to 10 cm deep, and the North Korean resin anti-infantry mines found at the scene were also buried about 3 cm deep.
Deputy Director Kwon added, "The United Nations Command also assessed that the mine was placed artificially and that it was installed 12 months ago. Also, considering the gap and distance between the actually discovered mine and the exploded mine crater, it was judged to be a typical North Korean landmine buried, not a lost mine."
Based on this conclusion, the military launched a North Korean mine removal operation in the area of the explosion around 12:51 p.m. on this day.
Deputy Director Kwon emphasized, "The purpose of this operation is to remove minefields installed by North Korea south of the MDL in violation of the Armistice Agreement. It was carried out safely while complying with the Armistice Agreement and taking measures to prevent accidental collisions through close cooperation with the United Nations Command."
Yang Jin-hyuk, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff's Operations Department, explained, "This is an operation to remove North Korean landmines identified by the UNC in the area south of the MDL as an effective measure in response to damage to our soldiers."
The military announced that it would continue removal operations if North Korea did not voluntarily remove minefields south of the MDL.
Deputy Director Kwon emphasized, “The military strongly urges North Korea to offer a sincere apology to our soldiers who were injured in this land mine explosion and to immediately remove the land mines installed in violation of the Armistice Agreement.”
