Photo source: News1
Three South Korean soldiers performing operations in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the Western Front were injured in an explosion.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff announced on the morning of the 21st that three military executives who were operating south of the DMZ Military Demarcation Line (MDL) on the Western Front were injured in an unidentified explosion. The area where the accident occurred is known to be under the jurisdiction of the Army's 25th Division.
Two of the injured were evacuated by emergency helicopter, and the remaining person was also transported by land and then transferred by helicopter.
Military authorities are controlling the scene and investigating the type of explosive and the exact circumstances of the accident.
To date, the cause of the explosion has not been specifically confirmed. If landmines are the cause, it has not been confirmed whether they were mines laid in the past by the South Korean military, mines laid by the North Korean military, or landmines lost from the North.
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In particular, attention is being paid to whether this accident is related to the so-called 'border line fortification' work that the North Korean military has recently been carrying out in the area around the Military Demarcation Line, such as laying landmines. However, a direct connection between the two issues has not yet been confirmed.
Previously, the North Korean military has been deploying troops to the northern front line of the DMZ since 2024 to lay mines and create barren land, while reinforcing tactical roads and installing structures believed to be barriers.
At the time, South Korean military authorities stated that the North Korean military was continuing work even though its own mine exploded during the work, causing numerous casualties.
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Recently, it was also raised that a minefield created by the North Korean military may have crossed to the south of the MDL. The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced on the 11th that it had identified changes in terrain in some areas south of the MDL and that it was consulting with the United Nations Command regarding the possibility that North Korea may have laid land mines.
In the past, there were cases where the Korean military suffered damage from land mines during a DMZ search operation.
On August 4, 2015, while searchers from the Army's 1st Division were conducting a search operation at the Paju DMZ in Gyeonggi Province, wooden box mines planted by the North Korean military exploded one after another, causing two non-commissioned officers to suffer serious injuries, including losing their legs.
Afterwards, the Ministry of National Defense's joint investigation team announced that the North Korean military had crossed the Military Demarcation Line and placed three wooden box mines in front and behind the South Korean side's propulsion barbed wire gate.
