[Anchor]

Nine days after a landmine laid by North Korean troops exploded on the western front, North Korea's Kim Yo-jong has directly issued a statement. She made the far-fetched claim that the incident was a "clear fabrication" by South Korea. She also threatened immediate retaliation if the South Korean military carries out live firing.

Kim Hye-young reports as our first story.

[Reporter]

This statement was issued this morning (September 30) by Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of North Korea's Workers' Party.

Regarding the September 21 landmine blast in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) along the western front, she claimed it was a "fabricated farce by Seoul."

This marks North Korea's first reaction, coming nine days after the incident occurred and two days after South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff announced the findings of its preliminary investigation.

Completely denying the South Korean military's interim investigation findings that it was "highly likely a North Korean landmine," she claimed it was a staged incident by the South.

She also brought up the 2015 wooden-box landmine incident—for which North Korea had expressed "regret" over South Korean soldiers' injuries—groundlessly claiming that the South Korean government at the time had forcibly pinned the blame on the North.

Kim Yo-jong also claimed that North Korean troops "have never crossed the border even once."

The Military Demarcation Line (MDL) recognized by the South Korean military, the United Nations Command, and North Korea is known to differ slightly depending on the section, and North Korea is effectively using this to claim that they did not violate South Korean territory.

[Lim Eul-chul / Professor, Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Kyungnam University: North Korea seems to judge that actively denying its actions is necessary for the ongoing permanent establishment of the border.]

Some observers analyze that this is aimed at building justification in advance to place blame on South Korea if another military clash breaks out during North Korea's future "border fortification" efforts.

Kim Yo-jong also mentioned North Korea's "retaliatory measures" in response to the "corresponding measures" previously signaled by South Korea.

She warned that if the South fires "actual live rounds rather than warning shots" at North Korean troops, North Korea will launch "immediate and merciless retaliation."

Kim Yo-jong notably singled out the South Korean military's 21st Division on the eastern front, rather than the western front where the incident took place, threatening in her statement that they have "decided to take measures to reinforce tactical counterattack means." South Korean military authorities are analyzing the underlying intent behind this threat.

(Video by Cho Choon-dong, Kim Hyun-sang | Video Editing by Lee Seung-jin | Graphics by Kang Yoon-jung)