Ex-lawmaker says North Korea likely planted DMZ mines during Yoon government, calls for probe

Kim Jong-dae, a former Justice Party lawmaker, said North Korea likely planted the mine that exploded in the demilitarized zone under the jurisdiction of the Army's 25th Division during the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, and called for an investigation into how the military responded at the time.

Kim made the claim Tuesday in a Facebook post titled "What did they do about North Korea's mine-laying? Time to investigate Yoon Suk Yeol and Kim Yong-hyun," writing that "the mines involved in this frontline incident were most likely planted by North Korean forces starting in the spring of 2024."

"That period coincides with North Korea's declarations of a 'two hostile states' doctrine and the fortification of its border — all during the Yoon Suk Yeol administration," he said. "If you want to hold someone accountable for the failure to respond to North Korea's mine-laying, the people to question are Shin Won-sik and Kim Yong-hyun, who served as defense minister in 2024."

He also said the People Power Party was "leaving out the Yoon Suk Yeol administration period when the mines were being laid and instead browbeating the Lee Jae Myung government over what it was doing while North Korea planted them," adding that "it is more reasonable to view the situation as having actually quieted down under the Lee Jae Myung government."

The Joint Chiefs of Staff, however, said Monday in its interim investigation findings that a mine planted by North Korean forces most likely caused the explosion, while declining to specify when it was laid. According to the JCS, traces of North Korean mine-laying activity from September last year were also found near the accident site.

Kim had also posted on Facebook on Sunday, writing that "decisions on when to schedule the field investigation and how to staff it are matters that frontline commanders must weigh with their lives on the line," criticizing opposition politicians who had called for an immediate on-site probe by military authorities.

In response, independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, who staged a one-person protest outside the Defense Ministry building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, calling for a field investigation, fired back. "Military enthusiasts on the Democratic Party side are defending the delayed investigation into the mine explosion and saying that the Lee Jae Myung government's military leadership will handle it and that politicians should stay out of it," Han said. "The Lee Jae Myung administration delayed the investigation out of deference to North Korea."

At least three South Korean military officers were injured when a mine exploded in the southern portion of the DMZ on the western front on Sept. 21. Among them, the commander of a search battalion suffered a serious injury that resulted in the amputation of his ankle.