Tag: DMZ

These warnings are all tied back to North Korea trying to get concessions from the ROK on where the MDL within the DMZ is actually located:

Kim Yo-jong is the director of the General Affairs Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

“Our military leadership is considering increasing the deployment of tactical strike means near the entire southern border and resuming loudspeaker broadcasts against South Korea as preemptive and suppressive measures in preparation for any contingency,” Kim said in a statement carried by North Korean state media.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the military has continued to issue warning broadcasts when necessary, but stressed that they are not made through the large-scale anti-North Korea loudspeaker systems whose operation was suspended in June.

Instead, the warnings are delivered through smaller speakers installed at South Korean guard posts and used for military operations toward North Korea, according to the ministry.

“We are continuing necessary warning broadcasts, but we cannot confirm specific operational details,” a ministry official said.

The broadcasts have been used as North Korean troops have repeatedly approached or crossed the Military Demarcation Line in recent months. Under South Korea’s rules of engagement, troops issue warning broadcasts when North Korean personnel approach the MDL and fire warning shots if they cross it.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but this is all a test to see what concessions the Kim regime can get from the ROK. If they fold on the MDL issue it is a signal to North Korea to test and see what other concessions they can get away with as well.

North Korea’s claims of not planting landmines on the South Korean side of the DMZ now makes sense. Much like with the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the Yellow Sea, the North Koreans have a different interpretation of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) along the land-based DMZ. This explains the motive for planting the landmines; they are trying to enforce their claim over what they believe is the correct MDL:

The South Korean military removes a North Korean mine from its side of the Demilitarized Zone, Oct. 5, 2026. (South Korea Ministry of National Defense)

The investigation confirmed preliminary findings that North Korean troops crossed south of the Military Demarcation Line and buried at least four mines, the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday during a press briefing. Two mines exploded on Sept. 21, injuring three South Korean soldiers. Investigators later discovered two unexploded North Korean mines nearby. Pyongyang has repeatedly denied responsibility and accused Seoul of making groundless allegations. Army Lt. Gen. Kwon Dae-won, the Joint Chiefs’ vice chairman, said investigators ruled out the possibility that flooding carried the mines into the area, citing their proximity and the distance between the blast holes. (……….)

South Korea uses a Military Demarcation Line marked on military maps under a standard established in 2004 with the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Kim said during Monday’s briefing. U.N. Command uses a line defined by approximately 23,000 coordinate points spaced about 33 feet apart under a 2016 project, he said. “To resolve these discrepancies regarding the MDL baseline, the South Korean military is continuously consulting with the U.N. Command to align our respective MDL standards,” he said. The differing standards complicate assessments of North Korean troop movements. North Korean forces crossed what South Korea considers the MDL nine times in 2024, 17 times last year and approximately 50 times this year, Kim said.

Stars and Stripes

You can read more at the link.

The mines that the North Korean are have said to have laid were supposedly made of plastic which makes it even that much more difficult to locate and dispose of:

A paramedic (in white circle) descends from a medical evacuation helicopter to hoist casualties from a land mine field inside the Demilitarized Zone after explosions occurred there Sept. 21, 2026, in this photo released by South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff on Sept. 28.

The South Korean military launched an operation Monday to remove any remaining land mines planted by North Korea at the site of a recent blast inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that left three South Korean service members injured.

Three South Korean military officers were injured Sept. 21, two seriously, when two land mines south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) in the western DMZ exploded.

Following a joint inspection of the blast site, the United Nations Command (UNC) and South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) concluded that the mines were “highly likely” planted by North Korea and urged Pyongyang to apologize.

Seoul has also discovered two additional land mines at and near the blast site.

The UNC, which oversees the DMZ, said the latest explosion constituted a violation of the Armistice Agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is the ROK JCS and UNC’s response to the DMZ landmine explosion that seriously wounded two ROK Soldiers last week:

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the DMZ blast caused by mines planted by the North constitutes a breach of the armistice agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, and called on Pyongyang to immediately stop its border fortification work.

“This constitutes a blatant violation of the Armistice Agreement and undermines the spirit of existing inter-Korean agreements and must be halted immediately,” Lt. Gen. Kang Hyun-woo, chief director of operations at the JCS, said in a press briefing.

“We strongly demand an apology and responsible measures from the North,” Kang said. “We make it explicitly clear that North Korea bears full responsibility for any future consequences that may arise.” 

Kang also urged Pyongyang to “immediately cease” its border-hardening activities that heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the ROK will never get an apology from North Korea. From what I am reading it appears these landmines were not old ones which causes the obvious question of why were they placed now? Were they possibly in response to the Key Resolve exercise held in August? Or maybe it was just an overzealous local commander looking to make a name for himself by injuring ROK troops? Anyone have any other theories?

Just like all good leftists the Kim regime is good at lying and blaming their foes for the things they do themselves:

North Korea on Wednesday denied South Korea’s announcement that a North Korean mine likely caused a recent blast inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), accusing Seoul of fabricating the findings and warning of “immediate and merciless” retaliation if its troops are fired upon.

Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, issued the warning in a statement after the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced Monday that North Korean land mines were “highly likely” to have caused the explosion on Sept. 21 that left three South Korean soldiers injured.

“What should not be overlooked is the fact that the armed gangsters of the ROK are now cooking up the groundless results and ‘justifying their conduct’ for political and military provocation against the DPRK, openly talking about ‘reasonable and corresponding enforcement of measures,'” Kim said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Really who else could have infiltrated the DMZ and planted these mines? It was obviously North Korea which gets back to the point I made before, when were they planted? Were this old mines from years ago when relations were tense or recently emplaced mines? If they are newly emplaced then the question really becomes why now?:

 North Korean land mines were highly likely the cause of a recent mine explosion inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), South Korea’s military has said, vowing to hold Pyongyang “fully” accountable and take corresponding measures if confirmed. 

The military announced its preliminary findings from its joint investigation with the U.N. Command (UNC) on Monday, hours after revisiting the site of last Monday’s explosion inside the DMZ separating the two Koreas. 

The blast left two South Korean soldiers severely injured and another with minor injuries. 

A focal point of the probe has been determining whether the mines belonged to North Korea, amid mounting speculation that land mines illegally planted by North Korean troops across the border caused the blast.

Forensic analysis of fragments and residue recovered from the scene revealed traces of trinitrotoluene (TNT) and brown synthetic material — key features consistent with North Korean antipersonnel land mines that use plastic resin rather than traditional wooden casing — Lt. Gen. Kwon Dae-won, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a press briefing.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The big question is if this was a recently planted mine by North Korea or one that has been sitting there for many years. It will be interesting to see if we ever get an answer to that question:

An undetonated land mine was spotted at the site of last week’s explosion inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), according to military sources Monday, citing initial statements from soldiers involved in the blast.

The statement was obtained as the military is working to determine the exact cause of last Monday’s blast that occurred south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) inside the DMZ separating the two Koreas. Two South Korean soldiers were severely wounded, with a third sustaining minor injuries.

The incident, which involved two separate explosions, is suspected of having been triggered by North Korean land mines.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It doesn’t appear to be anything nefarious going on with the North Korean border incursions, but the US and ROK senior leaders decided to check it out for themselves anyway:

Top U.S. and South Korean commanders inspected frontline positions within the Demilitarized Zone this week amid increased North Korean construction and repeated crossings of the heavily fortified border. Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, and Gen. Jin Yong-sung, chairman of the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited the eastern border Wednesday and examined North Korean construction near the Military Demarcation Line, according to a Joint Staff press release. The line divides the two Koreas within the DMZ, a buffer zone established after the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice instead of a peace treaty.

The agreement has maintained stability on the Korean Peninsula for the past 70 years, but firm readiness is necessary to preserve it, Brunson said in the release. The visit follows several recent demarcation-line crossings by North Korean troops. South Korean forces fired warning shots last month after North Korean soldiers crossed the border in the DMZ’s eastern sector, according to the South’s Ministry of National Defense. The incident marked the first warning shots fired in response to a crossing since an incursion last year, the Yonhap News Agency reported Aug. 16. North Korean troops crossed the line 17 times last year, the report said.

Stars and Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Apparently this decision was made to prevent negligent discharges from happening:

A South Korean army unit responsible for protecting the western front along the nation’s heavily fortified border has been standing guard with unloaded machine guns, according to a media report.  The 1st Corps revised its guard-duty instructions earlier this year, directing soldiers to keep K6 heavy machine guns unloaded with live ammunition nearby, Yonhap News Agency reported Wednesday, citing unnamed military sources.  The 1st Corps oversees operations along the western section of the Demilitarized Zone, which separates North and South Korea. The Joint Chiefs of Staff, which oversees all operations along the border, was unaware of the unit’s updated policy, the report said. 

Stars and Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It appears the ROK Marine Corps was aware of the drone, but not the Army that nearly engaged it:

A warning sign in the border area of Paju, Gyeonggi Province, north of Seoul, indicates that the surrounding region is a drone no-fly zone, in this file photo taken Jan. 11, 2026. (Yonhap)

A mix-up over a U.S. spy drone flying near the inter-Korean border has raised questions about a potential communication gap between the allies after South Korean forces mistook the drone for an enemy threat and had almost prepared to shoot it down.

On Thursday, the unmanned flying vehicle was spotted in the buffer zone, known as the Civilian Control Line, south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) separating the two Koreas.

The Army’s 1st Corps, responsible for front-line defense, activated Durumi, an anti-air defense alert system issued in the event of an enemy drone incursion, and used surveillance equipment, including thermal observation devices (TOD) and radar, to identify the drone.

The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) later said it was a U.S. military drone belonging to its Marine Corps carrying out an operation during a combined exercise with the South Korean Marines near the border.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.