Kim Yo Jong rejects South Korea mine claim, warns of border retaliation

Kim Yo Jong rejected South Korea's claim that North Korean mines injured officers near the DMZ. She warned of immediate retaliation if Seoul fired at troops doing border fortification work.

In Short

• Three South Korean officers were injured during DMZ patrol route work
• Investigators cited blast marks, explosive residue and extra mines nearby
• Seoul said no allied forces had laid mines in that sector

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister, Kim Yo Jong, has rejected South Korea's finding that North Korea likely planted land mines that injured three South Korean military officers near the inter-Korean border last week. She also warned that North Korean border units would retaliate if South Korean forces fired at troops carrying out fortification work along the frontier.

The statement came after South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Monday that a preliminary joint inspection with the US-led United Nations Command found that the blasts were likely caused by North Korean mines. South Korean Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul said the placement of the mines would likely violate the armistice that ended fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War, and that Seoul would consider unspecified "corresponding measures" if a final investigation confirms the North was responsible.

Three South Korean officers were injured in two consecutive explosions on September 21 near the military demarcation line in the western part of the Demilitarised Zone, the heavily fortified buffer separating the two Koreas. The explosions took place about 10 metres south of the line during an operation to establish a patrol route through a densely vegetated area that had rarely been visited for decades. The route was meant to support future inspections with the UN Command after South Korea said it had detected "terrain changes" since last year that may have been caused by North Korean minelaying.

Kim Yo Jong called the South Korean assessment a "conspiratorial farce" and accused Seoul of making baseless claims to create a pretext for military provocation. She said North Korea's fortification work was a legitimate exercise of sovereignty and accused the South of raising tensions by broadcasting warnings and firing warning shots at North Korean troops engaged in that work. She said "our soldiers have never crossed the border" and added, "When a single bullet is hit on our land, they must be prepared for a lot." She also said, "If the (South Korean) military gangsters fire at our soldiers carrying on the permanent project for the southern border, not warning shots, our border units will take immediate and merciless retaliatory action."

South Korean military officials said there was a "very high possibility" that North Korean mines caused the explosions. Kwon Dae-won, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there was no record of South Korean or allied forces laying mines in the area, and that blast marks, forensic analysis of explosive material and what appeared to be a third North Korean mine at the site pointed to the North. Kang said South Korean and UN investigators found a possible fourth mine during a follow-up inspection on Tuesday.

The DMZ stretches 248 kilometres and is 4 kilometres wide, making it one of the world's most heavily fortified borders. Around 2 million mines are estimated to be buried in and around the zone, which is also lined with barbed-wire fences, tank traps and combat troops on both sides. The latest blasts came more than a decade after South Korea blamed the North for land mine explosions in August 2015 that maimed two South Korean soldiers and sharply raised tensions. The two sides then exchanged threats, staged weapons demonstrations and resumed border propaganda broadcasts before marathon talks eased the crisis. North Korea expressed vague regret over the injuries but did not clearly accept responsibility.

Last week's explosions came as South Korea's liberal government was trying to help revive diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington as part of broader efforts to reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Since early 2024, North Korea has adopted a harder line towards the South, calling it a permanent enemy and replacing the idea of shared statehood with a hostile "two-state" system. Pyongyang has also rejected US calls to restart diplomacy that broke down in 2019, saying Washington must first drop its demand for denuclearisation as a condition for talks. The latest exchange has again brought the border issue into focus, with Seoul pressing its investigation and Pyongyang warning of retaliation.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends