Kang Shin-chul: "Corresponding Measures" for North Korea's Armistice Violation... "Three of Four Mines Encroached South of the MDL"

[Financial News] The United Nations Command (UNC) and the South Korean military confirmed that three of the four North Korean mines found at the site of an explosion in the western DMZ had been planted in violation of the Korean Armistice Agreement. President Lee Jae Myung called on authorities on the 29th to thoroughly determine the facts surrounding the DMZ explosion and stressed, "There can be no division between the ruling and opposition parties on national security." In response, Minister of National Defense Kang Shin-chul and the military leadership appeared before the National Assembly Defense Committee and said corresponding measures would be taken in response to North Korea's violation of the Armistice Agreement.
One additional plastic-based resin anti-personnel mine planted by North Korean troops was discovered belatedly at the explosion site that day. It was found only three days after the South Korean military and the UNC began a joint search. The mine is expected to serve as a smoking gun proving North Korea was responsible.
Dae Won Kwon, deputy chief of the Republic of Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff (ROK JCS), said at the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, "The UNC recognizes that the fourth mine found today, the crater where the first sergeant was injured, and the crater where the battalion commander was injured are clearly south of the MDL. The UNC did not make a determination regarding the mine that was discovered initially."
Yang Jin-hyeok, the ROK JCS director of operations, said the mine discovered that day had been manufactured in North Korea. Yang reported, "A North Korean resin anti-personnel mine was identified one meter behind the site of the second explosion." He also said, "During the joint on-site investigation with the UNC, we observed a brownish color and confirmed a square shape." The mine was estimated to have been planted more than a year earlier.
Minister Kang reported to the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea that corresponding measures would be taken against North Korea for violating the Armistice Agreement.
Minister Kang said, "Because North Korea's responsibility for violating the Armistice Agreement is clear, we will take corresponding measures." He added, "We have various options and will implement them in stages." However, he said it would be difficult to disclose the corresponding measures because they involved military operations.
Minister Kang also denied that the National Security Council (NSC) had been convened following the mine explosion. He explained the difficulty of assessing the circumstances at the time of the incident, saying, "There could have been mines belonging to our own forces, and there was a considerable gap between the first and second explosions." As the DMZ mine explosion was provisionally determined to have been North Korea's doing, attention has also turned to whether the Ministry of Unification (MOU) will reconsider its planned aid measures for North Korea.
The MOU had been preparing a project to provide North Korea with medical equipment worth 9.3 billion won. Some members of the conservative opposition have argued that aid to North Korea should be halted and that loudspeaker broadcasts toward North Korea should resume as the top-priority measure in response to the North Korean mines.
The MOU and the Ministry of National Defense (MND) indicated that they would defer decisions on measures in response to the DMZ mine incident until the final investigation results were released. Asked whether humanitarian cooperation with North Korea might be reconsidered, an MOU official avoided giving a direct answer, saying, "We can discuss that after reviewing the investigation results." Regarding the resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts toward North Korea, the MND also postponed a final decision, stating, "We will review it while comprehensively considering the final assessment."
The opposition has demanded an immediate response, like the one following North Korea's 2015 provocation involving wooden-box mines. Jeong Jeom-sik, floor leader of the People Power Party, argued that the government was maintaining a submissive posture toward North Korea and called for the loudspeakers removed previously to be reinstalled and broadcasts toward North Korea to resume.
By contrast, Jin Sung-joon, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker and chairman of the National Assembly Defense Committee, acknowledged that North Korea was responsible but opposed a hasty military response. Jin said, "The situation differs from the 2015 wooden-box mine incident, when mines were deliberately planted after entering the area with the intention of injuring our troops." He added, "If the mines were planted for defensive purposes as part of North Korea's fortification of its border, military countermeasures should be approached with caution."

[email protected] Kim Kyung-soo and Song Ji-won Reporter