SEOUL — South Korea’s military said Monday it was “highly likely” that a blast that seriously injured South Korean soldiers in the Demilitarised Zone on Sept. 21 was caused by a North Korean mine, Reuters and Yonhap reported.
The Joint Chiefs’ assessment followed a week-long probe of the western-sector explosion that wounded troops on patrol. Earlier, Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul had said it was too early to confirm the explosive’s type or origin even as some soldiers reported seeing an object resembling a North Korean wooden-box mine. A joint investigation with the United Nations Command continued, with forensic analysis of materials from the scene underway.
Mines and accidental detonations have periodically wounded troops along the heavily fortified border decades after the 1950–53 Korean War armistice. Seoul’s Monday finding sharpens attribution toward Pyongyang without announcing retaliatory steps in the initial military statement.
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