[Anchor]

The military has announced the final results of its investigation into the landmine explosion that occurred on the western front on September 21. The military concluded that what injured South Korean service members was a North Korean plastic landmine. It also determined that the mine had not drifted away, but was deliberately planted by North Korean troops south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL).

First, here is defense reporter Kim Tae-hoon.

[Reporter]

This is a resin anti-personnel mine revealed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) today (October 5), a type of North Korean mine previously discovered in the Imjin River area.

It is made of brown plastic and features a grid pattern.

The JCS stated that during the final on-site inspection on September 29, a resin anti-personnel mine identical to the one found near the Imjin River was identified just 1 to 2 meters away from the blast crater in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) along the western front.

The JCS explained that forensic verification by the National Forensic Service also confirmed that the components and color of the TNT and fragments recovered from the scene, the injured service members, and various equipment were identical to the mine found in the Imjin River.

[Kwon Dae-won / Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: "TNT, brown foreign substances, and thermosetting resin components were detected, confirming it to be a North Korean resin anti-personnel mine. To be even more precise, we conducted a comparative analysis of the fragments extracted from the bodies of the injured and the North Korean resin anti-personnel mine previously recovered from the Imjin River, finding that they were identical..."]

The JCS emphasized that North Korean troops intentionally buried the resin anti-personnel mine at a depth of about 3 centimeters, roughly 10 meters south of the Military Demarcation Line.

[Kwon Dae-won / Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: "Considering the distance between the mine found and the crater of the exploded mine, as well as the distance between the rows, we determined that this was not a stray mine, but a typical North Korean minefield that had been deliberately laid."]

He added that the United Nations Command (UNC) shared the same view.

The South Korean military and the UNC estimated that the mine was planted about a year ago, ultimately determining that North Korea laid the mine south of the Military Demarcation Line as part of its so-called border fortification work.

The JCS urged North Korea to offer a sincere apology to the South Korean service members injured in the mine explosion, even at this point, and to immediately remove the landmines installed in violation of the Armistice Agreement.

Video by Cho Chang-hyun | Video Editing by Jeong Seong-hun