North Korea Threatens Response Over Mine Clearing Operation

North Korea threatened that it would "take immediate and powerful countermeasures" if South Korea encroaches on its territory "by even 1 millimeter," responding to the South Korean military's final findings on a landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone and the follow-up measures that followed. The North signaled possible military action after the South concluded that the blast was caused by a mine laid by North Korean troops and launched a clearing operation.

The North Korean Foreign Ministry issued the statement on the 6th through the Korean Central News Agency under the title "We Will Be More Resolute and Explicit in Exercising Sovereignty Against the Most Hostile State."

The ministry said South Korea "announced final investigation findings that forcibly linked the 'landmine explosion' that occurred along the border area to us, and talked of carrying out 'diplomatic and military countermeasures' against our state, starting with a 'mine clearing operation.'" It claimed that "this has proven, by their own hand, where the ultimate purpose of the self-staged farce planned and directed by Seoul lies."

The ministry went on to describe the incident as an obstruction scheme aimed at delaying or blocking the North's "fortification of the southern border," calling it "a grave provocation that cannot be overlooked, seeking to shift responsibility for a staged incident onto the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and damage its international image." It added that the act was "a serious violation of sovereignty that must be made to pay a price."

On the South Korean military's mine clearing operation south of the Military Demarcation Line, the ministry said that "removing mines that have nothing to do with us is none of our concern," but warned that "if those military boots, those sparks, encroach on our territory by even 1 millimeter, the border forces of Korea will take immediate and powerful countermeasures." It also claimed that any similar accident occurring in South Korea in the future would be "entirely the responsibility of the side that suffered it."

The ministry also rejected the South Korean government's proposal for talks to resolve differences between the two Koreas over the MDL following the accident. It said it "will not discuss the exercise of military sovereignty within its territory with an adversary state under any circumstances," stressing that it "will defend its sovereign domain not through negotiations but through the thorough exercise of force."

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said a day earlier that, based on a joint investigation with the United Nations Command and scientific analysis, it had concluded that the explosion in the western front DMZ on the 21st of last month was caused by a resin anti-personnel mine laid by North Korean troops south of the MDL. The blast site and additional mines found were all located about 10 meters south of the MDL, and TNT and resin components linked to North Korean mines were identified on the wounded soldier's combat uniform and body.

The military removed North Korean mines in the area of the accident site a day earlier by detonating them, and plans to continue additional clearing operations if necessary.

Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul said on the same day that the clearing operation was "effectively the first of its kind in the history of our DMZ" and that he viewed it as "a resolute response." He said "all responsibility" for the accident "lies with North Korea," pledging a firm response to acts that undermine national security.