Seoul, Oct 6 (IANS) North Korea on Tuesday warned of an “immediate and powerful counteraction” if South Korea intrudes even “a millimetre” into its territory, after Seoul signalled corresponding measures over a recent land mine blast at the inter-Korean border that it has blamed on Pyongyang.
The North’s foreign ministry issued the statement a day after the South’s military concluded the mines planted by North Korea caused the September 21 blast on the southern side of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) that left two South Korean soldiers critically injured, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The South’s military also conducted a mine-clearing operation at the blast site on the same day, in coordination with the UN Command (UNC), which oversees the border area. Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul called the mine-clearing operation a “decisive” response against Pyongyang in the first such mission inside the buffer zone between the two Koreas.
“We do not care about them trying to remove the mines irrelevant to us, and we have no reason to pay heed to such a farce of the ROK,” the ministry said, calling South Korea by its official name, the Republic of Korea.
“However, if a jackboot or a spark of fire from the ROK goes even a millimetre beyond the border to violate our territory, the border guard forces of the DPRK will take an immediate and powerful counteraction,” it said.
The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced the final results of the investigation into the mine blast, concluding that antipersonnel mines deliberately planted by North Korean troops south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) caused the explosion.
Seoul sees that Pyongyang has violated the Armistice Agreement banning hostile activities and border crossings along the DMZ.
The North’s ministry again categorically denied its involvement in the blast, accusing Seoul of shifting the blame onto Pyongyang to frame its border fortification as a military invasion.
“The ROK seeks to hold the DPRK accountable for the premeditated farce, fabricated and determined unilaterally by it, and tarnish the latter’s international image,” it said.
The ministry vowed to exercise its “just sovereign rights” in a “more resolute and bold manner” to ensure its border security.
“We make it clear that if a similar thing happens again in the ROK in the future, we are not responsible for it, but the side which sustained it is entirely accountable,” it said.
The ministry also reaffirmed it has no intention of holding talks with Seoul about “exercising its military sovereignty within its territory,” apparently ruling out inter-Korean dialogue to reset or clarify the border line.
“The DPRK will never discuss with the enemy countries the issue of exercising its military sovereignty within its territory but defend its territorial sovereignty by thoroughly exercising its power, not by negotiations,” it said.
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young proposed the two Koreas meet to address the discrepancies in the border line, citing the fading visibility of the MDL lines as a primary factor behind the DMZ blast.
Upon the signing of the armistice agreement in 1953, the UNC and the North Korean military installed 1,292 signs along the MDL to mark the ceasefire line.
However, only around 200 remain intact today, as many have deteriorated over time due to weather exposure and lack of maintenance.
A defence ministry official in Seoul said Tuesday that a military task force was launched early this year to discuss the MDL line with the UNC.
The UNC has reportedly conveyed to Pyongyang the need to establish clear and consistent MDL markers along the border.
Seoul and the UNC proposed military-level talks with Pyongyang following a 2015 mine explosion that seriously injured two South Korean troops, but North Korea rejected the offer.
Speaking to reporters earlier, Kang also reiterated that all responsibility for the recent mine blast lies with North Korea, noting the South Korean military will respond to any activities that threaten the country’s national security in a “decisive” manner.
Asked about potential follow-up measures, the defence chief said the country will continue to take necessary steps, without elaborating.
–IANS
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