A North Korean soldier was reportedly killed by a landmine while operating near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on Tuesday, despite South Korean troops firing warning shots at North Korean intruders for the second time in June.
South Korean military officials report “Several explosions” caused “injuries and deaths” for North Koreans “who were engaged in land clearing and mine-related work” in or near the DMZ. The statement did not provide details about the explosions or the casualties, but said smoke from the explosions was visible on closed circuit television.
South Korea Warned South Korea’s government warned in April that North Korea has planted landmines on all roads through the DMZ since tensions between the two Koreas began in 2024.
This mine has several Symbolic gesture of anger Pyongyang Had made This is to signal that peaceful “unification” is no longer the regime’s goal. Dictator Kim Jong Un in January ordered the military to close all border crossings to an “irreparable level.”
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday that between 20 and 30 North Korean soldiers briefly crossed into the South Korean side of the DMZ on Tuesday morning, the second border violation in less than two weeks.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said South Korean forces “issued a warning broadcast, fired warning shots and lured the North Korean soldiers back to the South Korean side of the border.”
As with a similarly brief incursion on June 9, the Joint Chiefs of Staff intended to characterize the border violation as an “accident.” In both cases, North Korean troops appeared to be carrying tools and raw materials to build a wall, guard posts and tank barricades.
“These activities appear to be measures to strengthen internal control over North Korean military and personnel and to thwart attempts to cross the border,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. Said.
“They are planting mines mainly in areas where people have crossed the border in the past. ‘Barren zones’ are being created to make surveillance easier,” the statement said.
The mine explosion occurred just hours before Russian dictator Vladimir Putin became president. Arrived Putin arrived in Pyongyang on his first visit to North Korea in 24 years. In a speech before his departure, Putin thanked North Korea for supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and congratulated the North Korean leaders for successfully evading Western sanctions.
