Undetonated Land Mine Found at DMZ Blast Site, Military Says

By Kim Seung-yeon

SEOUL, Sept. 28 (Yonhap) -- An undetonated land mine was spotted at the site of last week's explosion inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), according to military sources Monday, citing initial statements from soldiers involved in the blast.

The statement was obtained as the military is working to determine the exact cause of last Monday's blast that occurred south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) inside the DMZ separating the two Koreas. Two South Korean soldiers were severely wounded, with a third sustaining minor injuries.

The incident, which involved two separate explosions, is suspected of having been triggered by North Korean land mines.

It is too early to verify the statements regarding the additional land mine, including whether it belongs to North Korean forces, as the military investigation team was unable to reach the blast site during an operation Sunday, sources familiar with the probe said.

As the on-site investigation continues, retrieving the unexploded mine will be crucial to gathering evidence and making progress in the probe.

"We have initial testimonies based on which it remains difficult to pinpoint (the exact type of) land mines," Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul told a Yonhap reporter upon arriving at his office earlier in the day.

"We will explain everything to the public once we verify those details through the on-site investigation," he said.

The South Korean military and the U.N. Command (UNC), which oversees the border area, launched the joint investigation into the DMZ explosion Sunday.

They sought to reach the blast site to collect mine debris and other evidence material, but were forced to end the operations at sunset after clearing a path close to the site.

The National Forensic Service is currently analyzing mine fragments, explosive residue collected from the soldiers' protective suits.

Some military experts believe the explosion was more likely caused by North Korean mines than South Korea's standard M14 or M16 antipersonnel mines, given the severity of the injuries and suspicions that North Korean troops planted mines in the area.

If confirmed as North Korean mines, the military will need to determine whether they were washed away due to rain or intentionally planted. The latter would amount to a violation of the armistice agreement.

The blast occurred during an operation to clear a path for a joint inspection between the South's military and the UNC to verify Seoul's suspicions that Pyongyang illegally buried land mines across the border in violation of the armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War.

Forensic authorities are expected to release initial findings from their analysis of the collected evidence soon.