South Korea and UN Command open joint probe after DMZ mine blast wounds three soldiers

South Korea’s military and the United Nations Command have launched a joint investigation into a landmine explosion near the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Sunday, as opposition lawmakers pressed for a transparent account of where the device came from.

An investigative team of roughly 40 personnel, including South Korean troops, UN Command officials and the secretary of the UN Command Military Armistice Commission, searched the area near the blast site inside the DMZ, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Two consecutive explosions struck the site on September 21 in Paju, in the western sector of the border under the jurisdiction of the army’s 25th Infantry Division, wounding three South Korean soldiers who were clearing a patrol route at the time.

The team reached the vicinity of the suspected explosion site but could not access the exact location where the blast occurred, and paused the operation due to the danger posed by unidentified land mines still in the area and the exhaustion of personnel involved, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Officials said the investigation will resume with further searches and that the findings will be made public once confirmed.

Mine explosions and similar blasts remain a recurring hazard along the DMZ, where old, unmarked devices and suspected stray mines have periodically wounded soldiers on both sides of the border over the years. South Korean media reports have said North Korean forces resumed fortification work near the border in March, including planting new mines and building fences, activity that has fueled suspicion in Seoul that last week’s blast may have originated from a North Korean device.

The slow pace of the investigation has drawn criticism from opposition lawmakers, some of whom have accused the military of moving cautiously to avoid straining President Lee Jae Myung’s more conciliatory approach toward Pyongyang. The Joint Chiefs of Staff have rejected that characterization, saying the priority throughout has been guaranteeing the safety of investigators, including soldiers who may need to return to the hazardous site, before any team could be sent in.

A South Korean presidential official addressed the incident directly last Thursday while accompanying Lee during a state visit to Mexico, telling reporters that an objective, prompt and thorough investigation into the explosions was already underway. The official said establishing whether the devices were mines, and if so what type, along with determining whether North Korea had planted them, requires a full and careful fact finding process. The presidential office has separately stressed that no cover up or hidden agenda is involved in the timeline of the investigation.

Forensic analysts are examining recovered mine fragments to help determine their origin, a process officials say will take time given the site’s proximity to the Military Demarcation Line and the absence of any existing safe search routes into the area. The investigative team’s initial visit to the area involved securing an access route and clearing the ground with mine detectors before any broader search could begin.

The incident adds to a long history of unexplained or disputed explosions along the world’s most heavily fortified border, where landmines laid during and after the Korean War, along with more recent devices, continue to pose an ongoing threat to military personnel stationed on both sides. With North Korea’s recent fortification activity along the border raising fresh concern in Seoul, the outcome of the joint investigation is likely to shape how South Korean officials characterize the incident publicly, and could carry broader implications for the already strained security dynamic between the two Koreas as the investigation continues in the days ahead.