Ambassador Cha Ji-hoon says North deliberately planted mines south of MDL

Pyongyang calls Seoul's accusation an attempt to label sovereign act as aggression

A North Korean plastic anti-personnel mine identified during a joint field investigation into the mine explosion in the demilitarized zone involving the Army's 25th Infantry Division. The Joint Chiefs of Staff released the image Thursday when announcing the final findings of the joint field investigation task force. [Joint Chiefs of Staff]
A North Korean plastic anti-personnel mine identified during a joint field investigation into the mine explosion in the demilitarized zone involving the Army's 25th Infantry Division. The Joint Chiefs of Staff released the image Thursday when announcing the final findings of the joint field investigation task force. [Joint Chiefs of Staff]

South Korea brought the recent demilitarized zone mine explosion to the UN stage Thursday (local time), formally designating it a violation of the Korean Armistice Agreement and urging North Korea to issue a public apology and take responsible action.

South Korean Ambassador to the UN Cha Ji-hoon told the general debate of the First Committee of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York that "a mine explosion inside the DMZ on Sept. 21 injured three soldiers."

"A joint investigation supported by our military and the United Nations Command, and verified through forensic analysis, confirmed that the explosion was caused by a mine deliberately planted by North Korean forces south of the Military Demarcation Line," Cha said. "This constitutes a clear violation of the Korean Armistice Agreement."

He urged North Korea to cease such acts of escalation, issue a public apology and take responsible measures, and called on Pyongyang to engage in dialogue to reduce tensions and restore trust on the Korean Peninsula.

A North Korean representative pushed back, saying the so-called "mine explosion incident" cited by South Korea was "a mischievous obstructive act" aimed at framing the North's legitimate, sovereign fortification of its border areas as military aggression.

The representative dismissed the accusation as nothing more than a "poor trick" by South Korea's military to shift blame onto the North.

The North Korean delegate also invoked the name of Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young directly, claiming that even South Korean officials had suggested it was difficult to conclude the mine explosion was a deliberate attack by the North.

Jeong had said at a National Assembly audit of the Ministry of Unification by the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee on Thursday that the mine blast could not yet be characterized as an attack.

The First Committee is one of six main committees of the UN General Assembly and handles security issues including disarmament, arms control and the prevention of weapons of mass destruction.


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