North Korea Silent on Landmine Blast to Domestic Audience: Why Has Its Response Changed?

[Anchor]

North Korea has recently issued a series of statements denying involvement in the landmine explosion in the western front Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Yet, it has remained completely silent about the incident to its own people. This response is quite different from that during the 2015 wooden-box landmine incident.

Reporter Kim Ayeong looks into the reasons.

[Reporter]

General Secretary Kim Jong Un appeared at a performance venue with his wife, Ri Sol Ju, and daughter, Ju Ae.

They attended an event marking the 81st anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea, but no external message was released.

North Korea has issued statements five times so far, actively denying the South Korean military's announcement that the blast was caused by landmines laid by North Korean troops.

However, all of these were delivered only through state media aimed at external audiences, keeping its own residents in the dark.

What was the situation right after the wooden-box landmine incident in August 2015?

Back then, North Korea issued a refuting statement 11 days after the incident and broadcast it directly on Korean Central Television, which ordinary citizens watch.

It also aired broadcasts like this:

[North Korean worker (Korean Central Television, 2015): "A club is truly the best medicine for a mad dog. With the determination to beat a mad dog to death, we will make the sounds of production roar even louder."]

At that time, the regime appeared to believe that stoking hostility toward the South could be utilized socially.

This time, Kim Yo Jong stepped forward to state that the goal is to permanently sever ties between the two Koreas.

Considering that North Korea has not reported news about the South at all since proclaiming the "two hostile states" doctrine, analysts say there is little incentive to inform its domestic public about the incident as it did in the past.

The regime also appears to calculate that escalating tensions around the Military Demarcation Line could disrupt its ongoing work to fortify the border.

[Hong Min / Senior Research Fellow, Korea Institute for National Unification: "Underneath it all, there seems to be a fundamental desire to prevent tension from delaying construction and disrupting the border fortification project that they aimed for...."]

While tensions eased somewhat through inter-Korean talks in 2015, North Korea is now sticking to its stance that it will not sit down with South Korea.

(Video by Lee Seung-yeol)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.