South Korea says North Korean mine likely caused DMZ blast

South Korea's military said Monday that a North Korean land mine was the likely cause of an explosion in the Demilitarized Zone on 21 September. Three South Korean soldiers were injured during an operation in the western part of the border zone; two suffered serious injuries. The military's finding is preliminary, and investigators have not yet established responsibility conclusively.

Officials revisited the blast site and examined fragments, a crater, burn patterns and witness accounts. Lieutenant General Kwon Dae-won of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the evidence pointed away from South Korean mines and toward a type associated with the North. Yonhap reported that an earlier attempt to reach the area had been curtailed by fading daylight and operational limits. Reuters and AFP separately reported Seoul's assessment.

The inquiry involves South Korea's military and the United Nations Command. Seoul says it will hold Pyongyang responsible and consider a corresponding response if the final investigation confirms that North Korean forces laid the mine. Those steps remain conditional; this announcement was neither a final forensic finding nor a report of retaliation.

The incident highlights the danger of operations inside one of the world's most heavily fortified border zones. For now, the key unresolved question is who placed the device that exploded, and when.