Seoul Blames North Korean Mines for DMZ Blast, Calls It Armistice Breach

South Korea's defence minister told lawmakers on Tuesday that North Korean mines were responsible for an explosion in the Demilitarized Zone last week that wounded two South Korean personnel, describing the incident as a violation of the Korean War armistice and one that calls for a response against Pyongyang.

Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul said the devices appeared to have been laid as part of North Korea's border fortification activity near the Military Demarcation Line, the boundary that runs through the middle of the DMZ. "The responsibility lies with North Korea, so we will take corresponding measures," Kang said, adding that the military has options available and would carry them out in stages. He did not detail what those steps would be.

Kang said a central question is whether the North emplaced the mines knowing South Korean troops could enter the area and be harmed.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said a probe conducted with the United Nations Command uncovered an additional North Korean resin anti-personnel mine close to the site of last week's blast. The military said the newly found device differs from the North Korean mines believed to have caused the September 21 explosion.

JCS Vice Chairman Kwon Dae-won said the mines did not appear to have drifted into the area, and that the UN Command assessed they were located clearly south of the Military Demarcation Line.

The episode echoes a 2015 incident in which South Korean troops were injured by North Korean mines. Seoul responded then by resuming anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts across the DMZ, setting off a military standoff that was resolved through a high-level inter-Korean agreement.

The latest blast comes as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has sought to bring North Korea back to dialogue, after Pyongyang declared the South an enemy state and abandoned its long-standing goal of peaceful reunification. North Korean state media has not commented on the incident, and the country's mission to the United Nations and its embassies in Beijing and Singapore did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.