Mexico City, Sep 25 (IANS): South Korean presidential official has pledged a prompt and thorough investigation into who was responsible for the recent explosions in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) that injured three South Korean soldiers.
“An objective, prompt and thorough investigation is under way,” the presidential official told reporters in Mexico City on Thursday while accompanying South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on his ongoing state visit to Mexico.
The official’s remark came in response to suspected mine explosions in the DMZ on Monday that injured three South Korean soldiers, prompting forensic analysis of collected mine fragments to determine whether they were of South or North Korean origin, Yonhap News Agency reported.
“A thorough fact-finding (probe) is needed to determine whether they were mines, and if they were mines, what kinds of mines they were, as well as whether they were buried by North Korea, and if not, what happened,” he said.
The investigation is being carried out carefully in coordination with the United Nations Command because the site of the explosions is a new reconnaissance route, making it dangerous to tread on, the official said, ruling out any possibility of a cover-up.
“Although dangerous, we will (investigate) promptly to announce the results.”
On Tuesday, South Korea’s new Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul urged North Korea to cease its border-hardening measures along the inter-Korean border, vowing that South Korea will not tip-toe around Pyongyang’s actions.
Kang made the remarks during a press availability following his inauguration, after a suspected landmine blast south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) on the western inter-Korean border injured three South Korean military officers on Monday.
An investigation is under way to determine the exact cause of the blast, but speculation is growing that it may have been triggered by a landmine illegally planted by the North on the South Korean side of the DMZ.
“(North Korea) must cease its border fortification. Of course, we need to speak out,” Kang said when asked about the explosion.
“There are secondary effects that stem from North Korea’s border-hardening, and this (explosion) could be one of them,” he said.
Kang said he “agrees” when asked whether he would issue a firm warning to Pyongyang about its fencing and mine-laying activities in his new capacity.
“You keep bringing up that we walk on eggshells when it comes to North Korea, but we do not,” he said. “I explicitly stated that the North’s military is our enemy (during my confirmation hearing).”
Kang also revealed that the South’s military has yet to confirm whether the suspected mine blast occurred at a site where North Korea is suspected of illegally laying mines across the border.
“Frankly, what is at issue is whether the minefield area you are referring to, the patrol route our personnel had entered and the exact site of the explosion all match up,” Kang told reporters.
“The problem is that we cannot confirm this at this point. That is precisely what the investigation must determine,” he said.
Kang noted that the military has not yet obtained clear footage of the explosion site, citing difficult terrain within the buffer zone hindering visibility.
“Ideally, we would rely on the memory of the personnel involved and could ask them directly where they entered, but the current situation obviously makes that difficult,” he said. “As of now, nothing is clearly visible, and it remains difficult to confirm that these three locations align.”
