South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense, following a joint investigation with the United Nations Command (UNC), has stated that North Korea was responsible for planting landmines that severely injured two South Korean soldiers in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The incident, which occurred during a routine patrol, prompted a formal accusation that North Korea violated the 1953 Armistice Agreement that ended hostilities in the Korean War.
The explosion took place on August 4, 2015, in the southern section of the heavily fortified DMZ near Paju, north of Seoul. Two staff sergeants were on patrol when the blast occurred, resulting in injuries that led to the amputation of limbs for both soldiers.
Following the event, the South Korean military and the UNC formed a multinational investigation team to determine the cause. According to a statement from the Ministry of National Defense, investigators concluded that the devices were wooden-box landmines, a type known to be used by the North Korean military. The investigation’s report asserted that evidence from the scene, including fragments of the explosive devices, indicated they were of North Korean origin.
Kim Min-seok, a spokesperson for the ministry at the time, stated that North Korean soldiers had covertly crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), which runs through the center of the DMZ, to plant the mines along a known South Korean patrol route.
“We are certain they were North Korean landmines planted by the enemy with the intent to kill,” Ku Hong-mo, a senior South Korean operational officer, said during a press briefing. He described the act as an “unthinkable, dastardly act.”
The United Nations Command, which helps monitor the armistice, supported Seoul’s findings. In a statement, the UNC formally condemned what it called “the violation of the Armistice Agreement by the Korean People’s Army.”
In response, North Korea’s National Defence Commission (NDC) denied responsibility for the incident. Through its official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the NDC dismissed the accusation as “absurd” and “groundless.” The North Korean statement called for South Korea to produce video evidence to substantiate its claims and warned of military retaliation if Seoul did not cease its “reckless military provocation.”
The incident led to a significant escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula. South Korea resumed loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts into North Korea for the first time in 11 years, a move that prompted an exchange of artillery fire between the two nations days later.
The Korean Peninsula remains technically in a state of war, as the 1950-53 Korean War concluded with an armistice, not a peace treaty. The DMZ, a 2.5-mile-wide buffer zone, is one of the most heavily militarized borders in the world.
