North Korea calls DMZ mine blast a 'South Korean fabrication,' warns of 'immediate, powerful' response to any border incursion

North Korea has dismissed a mine explosion in the western front demilitarized zone that wounded three South Korean soldiers as a "fabrication" by Seoul, warning that any mine-clearing operation that crosses into what it calls its territory — "even by 1 millimeter" — will be met with "immediate and powerful countermeasures."

The North's Foreign Ministry issued the warning in a statement titled "We will be more resolute and unequivocal in exercising sovereignty toward the most hostile state," KCNA reported Tuesday.

The statement came one day after South Korea's military announced its final investigation findings on the DMZ mine explosion.

The Foreign Ministry called the so-called "mine explosion incident" a "sinister scheme" designed to brand North Korea's fortification of its southern border — which it described as a legitimate exercise of sovereignty — as a "military provocation," and to delay or block it. It added that the incident was "no more than a shallow ploy by the South Korean military to shift responsibility for a mysterious accident onto us and find a way out."

It further claimed that attempting to pin responsibility for "a fabrication unilaterally staged and unilaterally concluded by South Korea" on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and damage its international image was "a grave provocation that can never be tolerated" and "a serious violation of sovereignty that must be made to pay a price."

The ministry said it "categorically rejects South Korea's despicable attempt" and that the country's "legitimate sovereign right to ensure the security of the southern border will be exercised in a more resolute and bold manner."

On the South Korean military's announced plan to clear mines south of the MDL, the Foreign Ministry said it was "none of our concern" whether Seoul chose to remove mines it claimed were unrelated to the North — while still threatening an immediate response to any territorial incursion.

It added that "if a similar incident occurs again on South Korean soil in the future, it is not our responsibility," stating clearly that "the responsibility lies entirely with the side that suffers the accident."

Earlier, South Korea's military announced Monday its final determination that the explosion in the western front DMZ on Sept. 21 was caused by mines planted by North Korea south of the MDL. The military subsequently launched a mine-clearing operation in the area south of the MDL where North Korean mines were laid.