Kim Yo-jong rejects blame for DMZ mine blast on Friday

Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, on Friday again rejected blame for a mine blast inside the Demilitarized Zone that wounded three South Korean soldiers. In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, she repeated her earlier denial this week and derided Seoul's call to reduce tensions between the two Koreas.dailymaverick.co.za+1

The rejection matters because it keeps the two Koreas at odds over the blast, with South Korea's military blaming the North and demanding an apology while Pyongyang calls the accusation groundless. South Korea's unification ministry said it has no intention of being hostile to the North and urged Pyongyang to meet face to face to prevent a repeat.

What Kim Yo-jong said

Kim said South Korea had jumped to a groundless conclusion that the explosion was caused by someone's covert and intended mine-laying. She said Pyongyang had not deliberately planted mines in the border zone. She dismissed Seoul's demand for an apology, saying: "They even called for an 'apology'. It is really despicable."upi.com

South Korea's military urged Pyongyang to offer an apology and stop fortification work on the border, and said it would take corresponding action in response. The military blamed North Korea for the blast, which wounded three South Korean soldiers. South Korea said this week that North Korean mines caused the blast that seriously wounded two South Korean soldiers on a reconnaissance mission.

Seoul's findings and demand

South Korea's military conducted a probe of the 21 September incident together with the United Nations Command, which oversees the Korean War armistice. The UN Command said on Wednesday the incident constituted a violation of that armistice. The border where the blast occurred is 4 km, or 2.5 miles, wide and stretches across the Korean Peninsula.

Kim described the fortification in the border zone as a way to seal the border shut for good. "Explaining in a simple and clear way, this is aimed at shutting down the door forever so that we will have nothing to do with the ROK and even wild animals cannot come and go," she said. She said North Korea wants to cut off the relationship forever with the South.

Lee's Armed Forces Day remarks

President Lee Jae Myung vowed on Thursday to keep pressing for practical ways to ease military tensions with North Korea, even as the two Koreas remain at odds over the blast. Speaking at a ceremony marking the 78th Armed Forces Day, Lee said his administration would consistently pursue practical measures to reduce military tensions between the two Koreas.

Lee also said that for the sake of peace on the Korean Peninsula, the two Koreas must find a way to win together and build trust. Kim derided those remarks as the climax of a farce that everyone should watch, and said those who wrote the playbook for the farce, directed it and played the actors deserve a precious citation.

Unification ministry responds

South Korea's unification ministry responded that it has repeatedly made clear it has no intention of being hostile to the North. The ministry urged the North to end the unproductive war of words that fuels hatred and hostility, and to meet face to face, saying that would help the two sides prevent a repeat of such an incident and ease tensions.

North Korea has sharply ramped up hostility against the South in recent years, disavowing unification as a national goal and calling South Korea its primary foe. The blast dispute now sits alongside that posture, with Seoul demanding an apology and an end to border fortification while Pyongyang refuses to accept blame for the incident.

The immediate next step rests with the two militaries and the UN Command, which completed the probe of the 21 September incident and found an armistice violation. South Korea said it would take corresponding action in response to North Korea's refusal to apologise, while its unification ministry kept open the offer of a face-to-face meeting.