Military warns North Korea bears full responsibility for future incidents; Kim Yo-jong calls mine blast a 'Seoul-staged farce'

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are escalating and the inter-Korean confrontation is intensifying in the wake of a landmine explosion in the western front Demilitarized Zone.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday that North Korea's planting of landmines constitutes "a clear violation of the armistice agreement," following an incident in which South Korean soldiers were seriously wounded by a North Korean mine. The United Nations Command said the same day that a joint on-site investigation had uncovered one North Korean anti-personnel mine south of the Military Demarcation Line, on South Korean territory, and that it had determined "an armistice violation has occurred." Earlier, Kim Yo-jong, director of the Korean Workers' Party's General Affairs Department, flatly denied the findings of South Korean and UN investigations pointing to a North Korean mine as the likely cause of the DMZ explosion, dismissing them as "a self-staged farce by Seoul."

Gen. Kang Hyeon-woo, chief of operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a statement issued at South Korea's Ministry of National Defense in Seoul that North Korea "has continued to pursue so-called 'border fortification,' including laying mines near the MDL, despite our government's consistent efforts for peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula, and this is a cause of heightened tension in the inter-Korean border area."

He then urged that the activity "must stop immediately, as it is a clear violation of the armistice agreement and undermines the spirit of existing inter-Korean agreements."

Gen. Kang said that "on Sept. 21, an incident occurred in which our soldiers, conducting a normal search operation south of the MDL, were seriously wounded by a North Korean mine," and urged North Korea to "immediately halt activities that heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula, such as so-called 'border fortification,'" while strongly calling for an apology and responsible action from the North.

He warned that "all responsibility for any situation that arises in the future rests entirely with North Korea."

The UNC also said in an official statement that it had "conducted a joint on-site investigation in coordination with the Republic of Korea military related to the landmine explosion that occurred in the DMZ on Sept. 21," and that "during the on-site investigation, one North Korean anti-personnel mine was discovered south of the MDL in ROK territory."

The UNC added that "based on the results of the investigation, it has been determined that an armistice violation has occurred, and action is being taken in accordance with the established armistice framework." It said it "will continue to remain committed to maintaining and implementing the Armistice Agreement and fulfilling its responsibilities to maintain stability and prevent escalation on the Korean Peninsula."

Also Wednesday, Kim published a statement through KCNA titled "Those responsible for the provocation must be prepared to pay the price for their self-staged farce," in which she said South Korean forces had "committed another act of provocation by announcing so-called investigation results related to a landmine explosion that occurred near the southern border line and trying to pin the blame on us," calling it "a self-staged farce by Seoul."

Kim said "to state the conclusion first, this incident is clearly a self-staged act that is an exact replica of the 'wooden box mine incident' that caused an uproar more than a decade ago, in terms of both the timing and method of provocation," and argued that South Korean forces were "fabricating groundless results and openly invoking 'the implementation of appropriate and corresponding measures' to manufacture a pretext to justify political and military provocations against us."

She went on to say, "Is it not something we can simply watch from the sidelines — stepping on and detonating a mine of unknown origin from an unknown location, then recklessly suspecting someone and babbling that an armistice violation is clear?" She poured scorn on what she called South Korea's behavior of "first pinning responsibility for an incident on others and then fabricating physical evidence to prove it," calling it "the height of absurdity and an outrage beyond words."

Kim also took issue with South Korean military warning operations against North Korea's so-called "southern border construction" project. She claimed that South Korea was "making groundless complaints that our personnel involved in the border barrier construction have crossed the line, and is gravely threatening the safety of our soldiers by issuing warning broadcasts and firing warning shots."

She went on to say that "particularly since August, the enemy has been carrying out warning broadcasts and warning shots almost every day — but to be clear, our soldiers have not crossed the border line even once. This is clearly nitpicking and provocation." She threatened that "if South Korean military thugs fire live rounds rather than warning shots at our soldiers carrying out the permanent southern border construction, our border units will immediately and mercilessly retaliate."

Kim also signaled specific military measures against the South. She said "response action guidelines have already been issued to border defense units, and our military has decided to take measures to reinforce tactical strike assets in the direction of the DMZ of the South Korean Army's III Corps 21st Infantry Division, where provocations have been frequent recently," warning that "it would be wise to carefully weigh the costs and benefits with rational thinking."

The 21st Division is stationed on the eastern front, not the western front where the mine explosion occurred, and is an area where North Korean forces have repeatedly crossed the MDL in recent months. Under South Korea's rules of engagement, the military issues warning broadcasts when North Korean troops show signs of approaching or crossing the MDL, fires warning shots if a crossing occurs, and orders withdrawal. Meanwhile, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Jin Yeong-seung and Combined Forces Command Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson recently visited the eastern front.