South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff concluded on the 5th that a mine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone in the Army's 25th Infantry Division sector was caused by mines the North Korean military had laid south of the Military Demarcation Line. The military cleared the North Korean minefield around the accident site that day and said it would continue clearing operations if the North does not remove the mines on its own.
Lt. Gen. Kwon Dae-won, deputy chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and head of the joint on-site investigation task force into the 25th Division explosion, announced the final findings. The conclusion combines a joint field investigation conducted with the United Nations Command from the 26th to the 29th of last month with forensic analysis by the National Forensic Service. The Joint Chiefs determined that resin-cased anti-personnel mines installed south of the Military Demarcation Line during what the North calls its "border fortification" work caused the explosion.
"Our military cleared the North Korean minefield south of the Military Demarcation Line at around 12:51 p.m. — the minefield that caused this explosion and that the United Nations Command recognized as a violation of the armistice agreement," Kwon said. "This operation was intended to remove a minefield the North installed in violation of the armistice agreement." He added: "If North Korea does not voluntarily remove the minefields it installed south of the Military Demarcation Line, we will continue mine-clearing operations for the sake of peace in the DMZ and the safety of our soldiers." The military also called on the North to apologize to the wounded soldiers and to immediately remove the mines it laid in violation of the armistice.
In the final field investigation on the 29th of last month, the joint team confirmed the locations of the two blasts and of an additional North Korean mine that was discovered. GPS measurements placed all three points about 10 meters south of the Military Demarcation Line. The additional mine was found about one to two meters from the crater left by the second explosion. It was a North Korean resin-cased anti-personnel mine, a brown square device made of plastic with a grid pattern on its surface.
Based on the two mines that detonated and the unexploded mine found later, the South Korean and United Nations Command field investigation teams assessed that at least four mines had been buried at the site. The National Forensic Service detected TNT on the wounded soldiers' ballistic helmets, body armor and combat uniforms, and identified melamine-urea-formaldehyde (MUF) thermosetting resin, a type of plastic, in fragments recovered from the injured.
Investigators also examined whether the mines had been washed into the area by water or laid directly by North Korean troops. After reviewing the surrounding terrain, weather, soil conditions and the distance and arrangement between the mines and the blast points, the field investigation team judged that the mines were unlikely to have drifted to the site, sources said.
Separately, the Ministry of National Defense inspected how front-line units handle their weapons following the controversy over guard duty performed without live rounds loaded in the Army's 1st Corps, and found similar cases in other front-line corps. It plans to issue institutional warnings.
The ministry will issue institutional warnings to the 1st and 2nd Corps and the 22nd Infantry Division under the 3rd Corps, which failed to follow procedures and violated rules on loading ammunition, as well as to the Army's Ground Operations Command, the higher headquarters overseeing front-line corps, according to sources. It will issue a corrective measure to the Joint Chiefs of Staff aimed at improving its administrative system. It decided not to seek disciplinary action against individuals.
