“We strongly condemn this cowardly act, which would be unthinkable for a normal military“, Major General Ku Hong-mo of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
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The order came hours after Seoul vowed Pyongyang would pay a “harsh price” for allegedly planting the landmines that detonated last Tuesday in the South Korean half of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) – a buffer area flanking both sides of the inter-Korean frontier. One soldier lost both legs, while the other lost one leg.
Later in the day, the Defense Ministry said it had resumed the cross-border broadcasts critical of the Pyongyang regime, which it had interrupted in 2004.
Blue House spokesman Min said the North Korean leadership had to take full responsibility for the mine blasts.
South Korean officials are accusing the North Korean military of illegally entering the country and planting deadly landmines.
North Korea announced that it will be setting its clock back 30 minutes, effectively establishing a time zone all its own.
Splinters from the explosion were from wood box mines used by North Korea, according to an investigation by South Korea and the UN Command.
An investigation led by the United Nations Command (under the aegis of the U.S.) in Korea resulted in the finding that the landmines were placed recently, dissolving the possibility that they were from a foregone era.
It condemned what it called violations of the armistice, which technically still continues because the participants have never signed a peace treaty. Seoul blamed Pyongyang for the attack but North Korea has denied any involvement.
Pyongyang has threatened to retaliate if Seoul resumes the broadcasts. Gen. Ahn Young-ho. “It is clear that the enemy deliberately planted three mines for the objective of harming our personnel”.
A ministry official said the messages being boomed across the border ranged from snippets of world news and the weather forecast to the superiority of democracy.
The heightened tensions between the countries comes as the U.S. and South Korea prepare for the annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise later this month. Two South Korean staff sergeants were severely injured in the incident.
The land mine attacks have raised questions about security along the tense border and how North Korean troops were able to get past an array of barriers – from barbed wire fences and foot patrols – meant to protect against North Korean incursion.
On Saturday North Korea had promised a “tough military counter-action” if the joint drill went ahead. North Korea introduced Monday that it might seek for overseas funding for greater than 100 separate tasks in Wonsan-Kumgang Improvement Zone, the place chief Kim Jong Un has a number of palaces and a summer time residence.
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‘The wicked Japanese imperialists committed such unpardonable crimes as depriving Korea of even its standard time while mercilessly trampling down its land with 5,000-year-long history and culture and pursuing the unheard-of policy of obliterating the Korean nation, ‘ the KCNA dispatch said.
