DMZ Blasts Injure 3 South Korean Soldiers as Koreas Trade Blame
Seoul demanded that Pyongyang apologize and take "responsible measures," and called on the North to immediately halt its "border-hardening activities," a South Korean news agency reported.
"This constitutes a blatant violation of the Armistice Agreement and undermines the spirit of existing inter-Korean agreements and must be halted immediately," said Lt. Gen. Kang Hyun-woo, chief director of operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), in remarks to reporters.
"We make it explicitly clear that North Korea bears full responsibility for any future consequences that may arise," he added.
South Korea says North Korean resin antipersonnel mines, deliberately laid on the southern side of the Military Demarcation Line, most likely caused the Sept. 21 explosions.
Pyongyang rejected the claim, accusing Seoul of fabricating its findings. It also warned of "immediate and merciless" retaliation should its troops come under fire.
In a statement carried by a state-run North Korean news agency, Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, lashed out at the South.
"What should not be overlooked is the fact that the armed gangsters of the ROK are now cooking up the groundless results and 'justifying their conduct' for political and military provocation against the DPRK, openly talking about 'reasonable and corresponding enforcement of measures," Kim Yo Jong said.
DPRK is short for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name. ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, the South's official name.
Kim insisted that North Korean soldiers "have never crossed the border." She accused the South Korean military of threatening them with warning broadcasts and shots.
"If the ROK military gangsters fire at our soldiers carrying on the permanent project for the southern border, not warning shots, our border units will take immediate and merciless retaliate attack," she said.
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