North Korea Claims Landmine Blast Was 'South Korean Setup,' Sends 'Far-Fetched Letter' to UN

[Anchor]

North Korea has sent a letter to the president of the UN Security Council, claiming that a landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone was staged by South Korea. This comes as a countermeasure after the South Korean government earlier sent a letter accusing North Korea of violating the Armistice Agreement. Pyongyang appears to be pushing back against Seoul's protest while waging a campaign to sway international public opinion.

Reporter Kim Ayeong has the story.

[Reporter]

In the middle of the New Yalu River Bridge, where North Korea's national flag and China's Five-star Red Flag flutter.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Wang Huning, China's fourth-ranking official and chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, walk side by side.

The leadership of North Korea and China staged a scene of walking together across the four-lane bridge connecting North Korea's Sinuiju and China's Dandong, which opened on October 15.

With Russia, with which it has forged a new blood alliance by dispatching troops to the war in Ukraine, North Korea also opened a road bridge over the Tumen River in September.

In stark contrast to these accelerating ties with China and Russia, North Korea is further cementing its severance from the South.

During the 2007 inter-Korean summit, then-President Roh Moo-hyun crossed the Military Demarcation Line on foot to visit Pyongyang by land, and the Gyeongui and Donghae railway and road corridors were connected, but North Korea has now cut them all off.

[Koh Yu-hwan / Professor Emeritus, Dongguk University: "By symbolically shutting off the South, they are saying, 'We have China and Russia. If necessary, we can also strengthen mutual solidarity, so just watch.'"]

While declaring its determination to press ahead with its so-called border fortification project to sever ties between the two Koreas, North Korea has also launched a counteroffensive in the international war of words over the landmine explosion.

Pyongyang revealed that it sent a letter to the president of the UN Security Council on October 25, claiming that the landmine explosion was nothing more than a fabrication staged by South Korea to delay North Korea's work.

[Yoon Minho / Spokesperson, Ministry of Unification: "It appears to be an attempt to justify their so-called border fortification work while reiterating their existing stance on the DMZ landmine explosion."]

Although the South Korean government has positioned itself as a pacemaker for dialogue such as North Korea-U.S. talks, its room for maneuver is increasingly narrowing amid escalating tensions from the landmine incident and deepening trilateral ties among North Korea, China, and Russia.

Video by Cho Chun-dong | Video Editing by Oh Young-taek
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.