Joint Chiefs of Staff: "North Korea is believed to have planted a considerable number of mines north of the MDL since 2024"... Estimated 960,000 mines

North Korea has continued its “border fortification” work in border areas, and it is reported to have laid around 960,000 land mines along the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) over the past two years or so.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff released a photo on the 5th while announcing the final findings of a joint field investigation task force into a land mine explosion during an operation in the DMZ by the 25th Division. The image is a still captured from footage of the operation to remove North Korean land mines south of the MDL, conducted that day. Yonhap News Agency

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Oct. 23, “North Korea is believed to have laid a considerable number of land mines north of the MDL since 2024.”

Earlier, according to offices of lawmakers on the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee and National Defense Committee, South Korean military authorities reported to the National Assembly that North Korea was estimated to have laid a total of 960,000 land mines in the DMZ area since 2024. At a parliamentary audit on Oct. 7, Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young also put the total number of land mines in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) at 2 million.

A military official said on Oct. 23 that it was “difficult to explain” how the amount of mines laid was estimated, citing concerns about exposing “intelligence and surveillance assets.” Regarding several locations south of the MDL where mine-laying is suspected, the official said, “We are investigating in close consultation with the United Nations Command and will continue to investigate.”

North Korea has defined inter-Korean relations as those between “two hostile states” and has continued fortification work in border areas since April 2024. As North Korean troops have repeatedly crossed the MDL in the course of this work, the South Korean military has responded with warning broadcasts and warning shots. On Sept. 21, a North Korean land mine exploded in the DMZ on the western front, injuring three South Korean troops.

North Korea has repeatedly claimed that South Korea’s response constitutes obstruction of construction work and a threat to its personnel, and has announced that it would resume loudspeaker broadcasts toward the South. Kim Yo Jong, Director of the General Affairs Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea, also said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency on Oct. 22 that a new means of response would be placed on standby for action and that loudspeakers directed toward the South would also be put on standby within days.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.