00:00The Joint Chiefs of Staff and the UN Command have announced the final investigation results
00:03regarding the landmine explosion that occurred in the Demilitarized Zone, DMZ, along the Western Front.
00:08Military authorities have concluded that this incident was caused by a plastic anti-personnel
00:12mine planted south of the Military Demarcation Line, or MDL, as North Korea was carrying out
00:16border fortification work. A key finding in this investigation is that the mine was determined
00:19to have been directly planted by North Korean troops, rather than being a stray mine washed
00:23down from elsewhere. The Joint On-Site Investigation Task Force conducted an investigation at the
00:27scene of the incident alongside the UN Command from September 26th to the 29th, and during
00:31the final investigation on September 29th, in addition to the previously confirmed blast
00:34marks, an actual North Korean plastic anti-personnel mine was newly discovered. The investigation
00:38team confirmed the points of the first and second explosions in the vicinity, pinpointing
00:42their exact locations using GPS. As a result, all three locations were confirmed to be situated
00:47about 10 meters south of the Military Demarcation Line. This detail served as crucial evidence
00:50in determining whether there was an armistice agreement violation. That was because those
00:53mines were located south of the MDL, not north of it. The UN Command and the Joint Government
00:57Intelligence Investigation Team also evaluated the location and on-site conditions, determining
01:01that the site fell within an area of concern under the armistice agreement.
01:04Kwon Jae-won, the director of operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated that based
01:07on these investigation findings, North Korea's planting of mines south of the MDL was deemed
01:10a violation of the armistice agreement. Scientific analysis was also conducted to identify
01:14the type of landmine. The National Forensic Service conducted multiple appraisals on the
01:18mine fragments related to the incident, and tests identified TNT, a brown foreign substance,
01:22and thermosetting resin components. Based on these components, military authorities determined
01:26that the mine in question was a resin anti-personnel mine used by the North Korean military. In
01:30addition, we compared and evaluated the fragments recovered from the injured soldiers' bodies
01:32with North Korean resin anti-personnel mines previously collected around the Imjin River
01:36area, and reconfirmed that the components and characteristics of both mines are identical.
01:39Another notable aspect is the condition in which the mine was found. During the operation on
01:43September 21, the mine discovered by the Pioneer Team was found buried at a depth of about
01:475-10 cm below the surface, and the additional mine found on September 29 was also buried about
01:513 cm deep. The UN command also determined that the mine did not drift naturally but was
01:55intentionally planted in a specific location. As for the time of installation, the investigation
01:59assessed it to have been more than 12 months ago. Synthesizing the results of this on-site
02:02investigation, the military authorities also ruled out the possibility of a mine that had been
02:05washed away. Analyzing the distance between the actually discovered mine and the crater at the
02:09blast site, the spacing between the planted mine rows, and the burial conditions together,
02:12they concluded that this was not a mine that drifted naturally, but part of a minefield laid
02:15by the North Korean military in that area. Accordingly, they concluded finally that this
02:19incident was also caused by a landmine planted south of the MDL by North Korea. At around 12.51
02:24PM on the day the investigation results were announced, our military cleared the North Korean
02:27minefield south of the MDL, which had caused the accident. This process was carried out in close
02:31coordination with the UN command, and measures were taken to comply with the armistice agreement
02:35and prevent accidental military clashes. Military authorities stated that if North Korea does not
02:40voluntarily remove the landmines installed south of the MDL in the future, they will continue mine
02:44clearance operations to ensure the safety of our soldiers. The Joint Chiefs of Staff also took a strong
02:48stance toward North Korea. They stated that North Korea must sincerely apologize to our soldiers
02:51who were injured in this landmine explosion, and immediately remove the landmines installed in
02:54violation of the armistice agreement. As the final investigation results have fully disclosed the
02:57military authorities' assessment of the accident's cause, the type of mine, and the installation,
03:01location, and condition, attention is now focused on how North Korea will respond.
