Landmine blasts injure North Korean troops laying mines along border, South says

South Korea’s military also said on Tuesday that warning shots were fired at North Koreans who briefly crossed the heavily fortified border

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North Korean soldiers work at an undisclosed location near the heavily fortified border with South Korea in a handout photo provided on Tuesday. Photo: South Korean Defence Ministry / Handout via AFP

Published: 2:02pm, 18 Jun 2024

Several North Korean soldiers working near the heavily fortified border with South Korea were injured in “repeated” landmine explosions, Seoul’s military said on Tuesday.

Dozens of North Korean soldiers also briefly crossed the heavily fortified border on Tuesday and retreated after warning shots were fired, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

It is the second such incident involving an incursion by North Korean troops in two weeks, with the Joint Chiefs of Staff saying that they believed the Tuesday crossing – like a previous one on June 9 – was accidental.

The two Koreas remain technically at war as their 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice not a peace treaty, with the demilitarised zone and line of control dividing the peninsula one of the most heavily mined places in the world.

“Dozens of North Korean troops crossed the Military Demarcation Line today … [and] retreated northwards after warning shots” were fired, a Joint Chiefs of Staff official said.

North Koreans work at an undisclosed location near the border, as seen from a South Korean guard post. The North was creating “barren land” and laying mines along the border, Seoul’s military said. Photo: South Korean Defence Ministry / Handout via AFP

Several North Korean soldiers had been injured when landmines exploded near the border, Seoul’s military also said on Tuesday without revealing the date.