North Koreaupdated 1h ago3 min read
North Korea Plants Nearly 1 Million Land Mines Along DMZ, South Korea Says
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North Korea has laid about 960,000 DMZ land mines since 2024. South Korea plans to raise the violation with the UN Security Council.
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Mines near DMZ
North Korea has planted nearly one million land mines in the Demilitarized Zone over the last two years, with the South Korea military estimating that North Korean troops laid about 960,000 mines during the period, according to multiple lawmakers’ offices on the National Assembly’s intelligence and defense committees.
The South Korean military disclosed that North Korea has laid approximately 960,000 mines along the DMZ since 2024 as part of a campaign to fortify its border with South Korea, and the reporting said experts previously estimated around 2 million land mines were buried throughout the DMZ, including those planted by South Korean forces.
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young cited the figure of 2 million during a parliamentary audit on Oct. 7, and the reporting linked the mine-laying campaign to North Korea’s April 2024 border fortification after redefining inter-Korean relations as “two hostile states.”
The reporting tied the danger to the Sept. 21 incident, when a land mine explosion south of the MDL injured three South Korean soldiers, two seriously, as troops cleared a route for a joint inspection with the U.N. Command into suspected North Korean mine-laying.
A subsequent joint investigation by the South Korean military and the U.N. Command concluded that North Korean mines caused the blasts, while Pyongyang rejected the accusation as a “fabricated farce.”
Seoul brings UN case
South Korea said it would formally raise North Korea’s alleged violation of the Korean War Armistice Agreement with the United Nations Security Council, and it said South Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations, Cha Ji-hoon, would send a letter to the Security Council president in New York later Thursday. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Park Doo-soon said the letter would explain the explosions were caused by land mines planted by North Korea, constituting a clear violation of the Armistice Agreement, and Park said the letter would demand an apology and responsible measures from Pyongyang. Kim Yo-jong, sister of leader Kim Jong-un, threatened that the South Korean administration would face “the most horrible and distressing situation” if it continued criticizing Pyongyang’s actions along the border, and the reporting said she issued statements after an inspection of North Korea’s border fortification work early Wednesday.
Kim Yo-jong also threatened to bring propaganda loudspeakers targeting South Korea into operational readiness across the border region within days, and the reporting said the threat raised concerns about a renewed cycle of psychological warfare between the two Koreas. Seoul also said it was continuing to consider additional unilateral sanctions targeting North Korea’s illicit cyber activities, and the reporting said an unnamed Foreign Ministry official said the sanctions remain “under internal review” and have “not been taken off the table.”
Border tensions and next steps
South Korea said its military responded to North Korean troop movements by issuing warning broadcasts and firing warning shots, while the reporting said North Korea argued those measures threatened the safety of its troops and signaled countermoves such as resuming loudspeaker broadcasts toward the South. The reporting said North Korea severed road and railway connections linking the two Koreas, including those along the Gyeongui and Donghae corridors, and it said North Korean troops repeatedly crossed the Military Demarcation Line during the fortification work. On Oct 22, Kim Yo-jong renewed criticism of South Korea’s warning shots, and the reporting said she said new countermeasures had been placed on standby along the entire border and that loudspeakers directed toward South Korea would also be put on standby within days.
South Korea’s Ministry of Unification urged both sides to halt actions that violate the armistice agreement, heighten tensions, and risk clashes along the Military Demarcation Line immediately, and it said the core solution to reduce tension and prevent conflict was narrowing differences in each side’s perceptions and establishing a communication mechanism to manage the border peacefully. The reporting said South Korea’s Foreign Ministry planned to send a letter to the United Nations Security Council regarding the landmine explosion on September 21 that injured three South Korean soldiers, and it said a joint investigation by the South Korean army and the United Nations Command concluded the blasts were caused by landmines planted by North Korea.