DMZ mine blast puts Lee's approach to North Korea to the test

In 2015, South Korea answered a North Korean mine attack with loudspeakers and pressure. Eleven years later, another blast in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) has left Seoul with a much harder choice.

When Seoul concluded that Pyongyang was behind the 2015 wooden-box mine incident, it responded immediately by cranking loudspeaker broadcasts against the North again. The blast cost one South Korean soldier both legs and another soldier his right leg.

Back then, the South Korean government was able to raise pressure on the North before finding an exit through talks at Panmunjom. Under the Lee Jae Myung administration, however, loudspeakers have been dismantled, and Pyongyang refuses to communicate with Seoul.

With the South casting itself as a “pacemaker” for renewed dialogue between North Korea and the United States, its ability to respond to Pyongyang without abandoning its push for dialogue is now being tested.

"Based on our overall assessment of the field investigation so far, we believe it is highly likely that a North Korean military mine caused the explosion," Lt. Gen. Kwon Dae-won, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a press briefing at the Ministry of National Defense headquarters in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Monday. “If the final investigation determines that our troops were injured by a mine planted by North Korean forces, our military will take appropriate and corresponding measures.”

After the incident in 2015, the Park Geun-hye administration moved quickly. On Aug. 10, six days after the incident, the South Korean government concluded that North Korea had deliberately planted the wooden-box mines. Investigators cited the concentration of mines near a gate frequently used by South Korean troops and the low likelihood that the mines had washed into the area.

Loudspeaker broadcasts toward North Korea resumed that same day for the first time since 2004.

Tensions peaked 10 days later after North Korea fired artillery and South Korean forces returned fire. After 43 hours of high-level talks at Panmunjom on Aug. 25, however, the two sides reached an agreement. North Korea expressed regret over the mine explosions and South Korea agreed to suspend the loudspeaker broadcasts as long as no “abnormal situation” occurred.

The situation is different this time.

The Lee administration suspended loudspeaker broadcasts toward North Korea shortly after taking office in June of last year and removed all 20 or so fixed loudspeakers from front line areas in August. The South Korean government described the moves as steps to ease inter-Korean tensions.

Reinstalling the speakers would therefore mean more than simply putting military equipment back in place. It would also signal a reversal of the administration’s approach toward North Korea.

“The first thing we should do is reinstall the loudspeakers that were removed,” Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the main opposition People Power Party said.

Some within and outside the military, however, find the move would be difficult to pursue immediately.

Instead, some military officials have reportedly discussed expanding patrols and mine detection and removal operations in parts of the DMZ where North Korean mines have been identified under the rationale that such a move would prevent further injuries to troops, while the risk of raising military tensions between the two Koreas would be relatively lower than reinstalling the loudspeakers.

Another difference from 2015 is the absence of a direct communication channel between the two countries.

Back then, North Korea was the one that proposed high-level talks. Now, even that channel is gone: Since April 2023, Pyongyang has stopped answering regular calls through the inter-Korean liaison office and military communication lines.

That leaves the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission as essentially the only formal channel through which the South Korean government can raise the issue as a possible violation of the Armistice Agreement.

The timing also adds to the South Korean government’s dilemma because Seoul is seeking to revive dialogue between North Korea and the United States.

“I hope the long-suspended dialogue between North Korea and the U.S. can resume without delay. We will lay the groundwork for this to develop into a dialogue among the parties aimed at ending the war on the Korean Peninsula and transitioning to a peace regime,” Lee said at the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 22.

“In 2015, the two sides traded tough responses, but how far things go this time will also be influenced by the current government’s approach toward North Korea,” a former senior military official familiar with the 2015 incident said.

BY YOON JI-WON, LEE YU-JUNG, SHIM SEOK-YONG [[email protected]]