Tensions rise on Korean border after land mine incident

Pyongyang and Seoul are trading increasingly hostile accusations across the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides the peninsula, 10 days after three South Korean soldiers were injured by a land mine on the South's side of the border.

The latest tensions may reflect a broader North Korean effort to test South Korea's resolve while extending its control to the outer limits of its territory, including an area that has effectively been a no-man's land for more than 70 years, according to a professor of foreign policy at South Korea's Kyung Hee University's department of Chinese studies

"The North revised its constitution in March this year and officially stated that they intend to define the absolute geographical limits of the nation, and that includes within the DMZ," said Choo.

"They want to maximize their territory and it is my sense that they would like to push the Military Demarcation Line [MDL] — the half-way point in the DMZ — further south," he told DW.

"I see the placing of landmines on the South's side of the line as a purely political act by the North, an attempt to threaten and intimidate the South."

Why Seoul blames North Korea

The three men were part of an 18-strong patrol clearing a new route through the DMZ as part of an investigation into the activities of North Korean troops in the western sector of the zone. The 4-kilometer-wide strip of land has divided the peninsula since the Korean War ended in an armistice in 1953.

Shortly before 11 a.m. on September 21, the patrol was around 10 meters south of the MDL when a staff sergeant detonated a mine. A second mine went off as the unit commander approached to provide assistance. Both men were successfully evacuated and have undergone surgery, with a third soldier treated for minor wounds.

The South Korean military has conducted an investigation with the United Nations Command, which administers the armistice on the border, and concluded in a report released this week that the mine was of North Korean origin.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff on Wednesday accused the North of sowing mines to the south of the MDL, a breach of the armistice agreement, and demanded an apology from Pyongyang and a commitment to halt the construction of further fortifications along the border.

"This constitutes a blatant violation of the Armistice Agreement and undermines the spirit of existing inter-Korean agreements and must be halted immediately," Kang Hyun-woo, chief director of operations, said in a press briefing.

"North Korea must immediately cease activities that heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula, such as its so-called 'border fortification.' We strongly demand an apology and responsible measures from the North," Kang added.

In a statement, the UN Command said it had "determined that an Armistice Agreement violation occurred. UNC is addressing the violation through established Armistice mechanisms."

Many in the South are demanding more resolute action on the grounds that failure to respond will be taken as a sign of weakness in Seoul.

Na Kyung-won, a politician from the conservative opposition People Power Party (PPP), has demanded that the South Korean military carry out exercises simulating a "decapitation attack" against North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

She has also called for the restart of propaganda broadcasts from loudspeakers on the border and for dissident groups to be allowed to launch balloons carrying propaganda into the North.

A pattern of border confrontations

Yu Yong-weon, also of the PPP, told reporters on Wednesday that North Korean troops had crossed the MDL around 20 times in August and on 30 occasions in September. On each occasion, South Korean troops fired warning shots when the incursions were detected.

An editorial in the Korea JoongAng Daily on Thursday said North Korea must be "held accountable" for the incident, arguing that Pyongyang's denial of responsibility "demands a firm response, clear accountability and stronger border enforcement."

The North is not backing down, however, with Kim Yo Jong, sister of leader Kim Jong Un, accusing the South of staging a provocation and threatening to retaliate.

In a statement published by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Wednesday, Kim Yo Jong dismissed the South's allegations as a "self-staged farce" and accused the "South Korean armed gangs" of using the incident to justify political and military provocations against Pyongyang.

Accident or calculated provocation?

Andrei Lankov, a professor of history and international relations at Seoul's Kookmin University, is more willing to view the landmine detonations as an accident.

"It makes no sense to me for North Korea to do this deliberately," he said. "At the moment, the North wants to keep a low profile and do nothing that could provoke the South. There is no gain in a deliberate attack like this."

Lankov believes a more likely scenario is that the mines were shifted from the northern side of the MDL in heavy rain or natural movements of the terrain, meaning that the North's protestations of innocence are genuine.

"I also do not think the South Korean government has any interest in escalating the situation further and that they will hope this is quickly forgotten," he said. "They will want to brush it under the carpet."

Choo, however, is less convinced and senses a growing anger in South Korean society that the government is not standing up to provocations from north of the border.

"I believe that resuming the propaganda broadcasts over the border would be an effective response, but I do not believe this government will do that," he said. "This government is trying very hard to connect with the North, but I see a failure to take a firm line this time being interpreted in the North as a sign of weakness in Seoul.

"Not responding would give Pyongyang a green light to push a little more and then a little more again," he said. "There is a lot of anger here that the government is not doing enough to protect soldiers who are serving on the DMZ, to protect the people and to protect our territory."