3 Soldiers Hurt: Seoul to Cite North Korea for Armistice Breach
Seoul-based news agency, citing South Korea's Defense Ministry, said the step follows a joint probe with the UN Command (UNC) into North Korean activity around the Military Demarcation Line (MDL).
Investigators determined that land mines intentionally laid by North Korea on the southern side of the MDL triggered a Sept. 21 blast that wounded three South Korean soldiers, two of them seriously.
“Following a joint investigation with the UNC into North Korea's MDL incursions, we plan to formalize its armistice violations,” the ministry said in a document submitted to lawmakers.
Seoul also intends to press for inter-Korean military talks to head off accidental clashes, restore communication hotlines and resolve disagreements over where the MDL actually lies.
Tensions along the border have climbed since last month's explosion. Seoul has accused Pyongyang of deliberately planting two mines inside the Demilitarized Zone.
North Korea hit back Tuesday, dismissing the charge as “blame shifting” and claiming Seoul was trying to cast its border fortification work as a “military invasion.”
According to a North Korean, the North's state-owned news agency, Pyongyang called the blast an attempt by the South to deflect responsibility for “its own accident,” after Seoul demanded an apology and the removal of mines it said violated the armistice.
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