North Korea Accuses South of 'Self-Directed Play' in Landmine Incident

The Chosun Ilbo · Kim Min-seo · 2026-10-26 15:48 UTC

North Korea Accuses South of Self-Directed Play in Landmine Incident North Koreas UN envoy claims South staged explosion to obstruct border fortification, threatens retaliation for provocation

North Korea sent a letter on the 25th to the chair of the United Nations Security Council, the Security Council, claiming that the explosion of a landmine planted by North Korean troops in our side of the Demilitarized Zone, DMZ, on September 21 was a “self-directed play staged by South Korea.” This is interpreted as a countermeasure against our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which sent a letter on October 22 to the Greek ambassador to the UN, who is serving as the rotating chair of the Security Council, demanding an apology and responsible measures from North Korea, stating that the planting of landmines south of the Military Demarcation Line, MDL, by North Korean troops is a “clear violation of the Armistice Agreement.”

In this letter, North Korea also criticized the warning shots conducted by our military in response to North Korean troops crossing the Military Demarcation Line, MDL. Despite not responding at all to the proposal for inter-Korean military talks made by our Ministry of National Defense on October 23, it criticized our side in a “shameless manner.”

According to the Korean Central News Agency on the 26th, Kim Sung, North Korea’s permanent representative to the UN, stated in a letter sent the previous day to the chair of the UN Security Council that the so-called “landmine explosion incident” staged by South Korea is a “sinister plot to denounce North Korea’s southern border fortification as a ‘military intrusion’ and to delay and obstruct it,” adding that it is “nothing more than a self-directed play.”

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