Mine Exploded on Western Front, but North Korea Threatens 21st Division: Why?

[Anchor]

Yesterday (September 30), North Korea warned that it would expand its means of counterattack, singling out not the Western Front where a landmine recently exploded, but the 21st Infantry Division on the Eastern Front. Analysts suggest Pyongyang is more concerned about disruptions to its border fortification project, in which it has invested heavily, than about the explosion itself.

Reporter Kim Ayeong has the details.

[Reporter]

The South Korean military's 21st Infantry Division, which Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the Workers' Party of Korea, threatened to target with expanded "tactical counterattack means," is stationed in Yanggu County, Gangwon Province, on the Eastern Front and guards the longest and widest barbed-wire fence section across the entire armed forces.

Featuring rugged, mountainous terrain, it differs significantly in landscape from the largely flat Western Front.

During its border fortification operations, North Korean troops crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) roughly 20 times in August and around 30 times in September. Most of these crossings reportedly occurred in the 21st Division's sector, and warning shots were reportedly fired in August.

The "border fortification project" refers to measures North Korea has undertaken since 2024, after declaring a "two hostile states" system, to reinforce separation by designating the MDL as a national border and intensively laying barbed wire and landmines throughout the area.

[Kim Yeol-soo / Director of Security Strategy, Korea Institute for Military Affairs: "Because it is in the Taebaek Mountain range, wouldn't installing mines and conducting work be more difficult and demanding than in flat areas? That led North Korean soldiers to cross the MDL as well."]

Analysts also point out that Kim Yo-jong's mention of "live fire" as their benchmark for retaliation is intended to block additional South Korean countermeasures and prevent setbacks to the border fortification project, which aims for completion by 2028.

[Hong Min / Senior Research Fellow, Korea Institute for National Unification: "What North Korea is currently most conscious of regarding its border project is setting a threshold against South Korea taking actions that go beyond warning shots."]

Unlike the 2015 wooden-box landmine incident, when the policy bureau of North Korea's National Defense Commission took the lead early on, this time Kim Yo-jong, the sister of supreme leader Kim Jong-un, directly issued the statement, drawing keen attention.

The move appears calculated to avoid escalating the situation through an inter-military standoff while exerting pressure on the political decisions of Cheong Wa Dae.

Some also suggest North Korea is keeping relations with the United States in mind.

[Yang Moo-jin / Chair Professor, University of North Korean Studies: "It also carries an indirect message expressing hope that this incident does not escalate further ahead of potential North Korea-U.S. dialogue."]

Kim Yo-jong also warned that if sovereignty violations continue, South Korea will face "circumstances it has not yet experienced," which analysts say may hint at the potential deployment of tactical nuclear warheads north of the Military Demarcation Line.

(Video by Jung Sunghoon)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.