[Anchor]
The South Korean military has announced the final investigation results regarding the landmine explosion on the western front. It concluded that the blast was caused by a North Korean plastic landmine that was deliberately buried south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL).
Reporter Kim Ayeong has the details.
[Reporter]
This is a North Korean resin anti-personnel mine released by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), previously discovered in the Imjin River area.
It is made of brown plastic with a grid pattern.
The JCS stated that during the final on-site inspection on September 29, an identical resin anti-personnel mine was identified just 1 to 2 meters from the crater in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the western front where the mine had exploded.
The JCS also explained that forensic analysis by the National Forensic Service confirmed that fragments, TNT components, and coloration collected from the blast site, wounded soldiers, and military equipment matched the mine found in the Imjin River.
[Kwon Dae-won / Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: "We detected TNT, brown foreign substances, and thermosetting resin components, confirming it was a North Korean resin anti-personnel mine. To be even more precise, we conducted a comparative analysis between fragments recovered from the wounded soldiers' bodies and the North Korean resin anti-personnel mine previously retrieved from the Imjin River, confirming they were identical..."]
The JCS emphasized that North Korean troops had deliberately buried the resin anti-personnel mine approximately 3 centimeters deep at a spot 10 meters south of the Military Demarcation Line.
It added that the United Nations Command (UNC) shared the same assessment.
The South Korean military and the UNC estimated that the mine was planted about a year ago, ultimately concluding that North Korea had laid the mine south of the MDL as part of its so-called border fortification efforts.
The JCS announced that at around 12:51 p.m. yesterday (October 5), it carried out an operation to detonate and clear the North Korean mines buried south of the MDL, adding that it will take necessary measures step by step moving forward.
[Yang Jin-hyeok / JCS Director of Operations: "This was an operation to remove North Korean landmines that the UNC verified were located south of the MDL, serving as an effective measure in response to the harm inflicted on our troops."]
The JCS urged North Korea to offer a sincere apology to the South Korean service members injured in the explosion and to immediately remove all landmines planted in violation of the Armistice Agreement.
Video by Cho Chang-hyun | Video Editing by Kim Jun-hee
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