Cheon Ha-ram: 'Armistice violation — specific countermeasures must be disclosed'

Kang Shin-chul: 'Mine was planted, not lost — response measures are also operations'

Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul answers questions at a National Assembly Defense Committee session on the suspected DMZ mine explosion, held Tuesday. [Yonhap]
Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul answers questions at a National Assembly Defense Committee session on the suspected DMZ mine explosion, held Tuesday. [Yonhap]

Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul officially confirmed Tuesday that the mine behind a recent explosion in the Demilitarized Zone was of North Korean origin — and said it was not a drifted mine but one deliberately planted as North Korea fortified the area around the Military Demarcation Line. The level of South Korea's military response to what officials have called an armistice violation is now under close watch.

At a plenary session of the National Assembly Defense Committee, Reform Party lawmaker Cheon Ha-ram asked Kang whether the military could now say with certainty that the mine was North Korean, after an earlier interim assessment had put the probability as "very high." Kang replied: "Yes."

When Cheon pressed further — asking whether the mine had been planted rather than lost, and whether that could be confirmed — Kang said it did not appear to have drifted. He added that investigators were still working to determine whether it was laid in September 2025 or had been planted earlier within a minefield that had existed since 1969.

A joint South Korea-US field investigation conducted that morning also turned up an additional North Korean mine. Joint Chiefs of Staff operations director Yang Jin-hyeok told the committee in an earlier briefing that a North Korean resin-type anti-personnel mine had been found about one meter behind the crater left by a secondary explosion. The on-site inspection involved 31 South Korean personnel, including the deputy commander of the 25th Infantry Division, and six US personnel, including the secretary of the UN Command Military Armistice Commission. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said, however, that "a final conclusion has not yet been reached."

Cheon demanded that the government be more specific about its planned response. "You say this is an armistice violation and that measures will be taken — you need to be concrete," he said. "Tell us what specific steps will be taken, including loudspeaker broadcasts and other options."

Kang first addressed the question of North Korea's intent. "When we talk about intent, we mean intent in the sense of knowing our troops would enter and seeking to cause harm," he said. He acknowledged that Cheon was "exactly right" that North Korea appeared to have planted the mines while fortifying the border area forward of the MDL. While stopping short of concluding that the mines were specifically targeting South Korean soldiers, Kang accepted that North Korea had laid them as part of its fortification of the MDL area.

He declined, however, to disclose specific countermeasures. "What corresponding measures we will take — laying all of that out here would itself be an operation," Kang said, asking for the committee's understanding.

The delay in publicly identifying the mine as North Korean also drew scrutiny. Cheon said the military could have presumed from the outset that it was a North Korean mine, yet only disclosed that assessment after chuseok, the autumn harvest holiday, and the president's appearance at the UN General Assembly had passed. "I am concerned that the president's political schedule is being prioritized over national security," he said.

Kang rebuffed the accusation. "This is an investigation, but it is also a military operation," he said. "It was a military assessment — there was absolutely no concealment or delay." He explained that even outside designated minefields, friendly mines can be present in the DMZ, and that it had not been possible to presume North Korean origin immediately after the incident.

The National Security Council was not convened. Kang said the NSC had not been called and that he had not recommended convening it, adding that the military first needed to verify the facts.

The incident occurred Sunday in the western front DMZ south of the MDL, in an area under the jurisdiction of the Army's 25th Infantry Division in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. Soldiers were clearing a new search route to support a UN Command field investigation when the blast occurred. Three officers were injured.


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