Seoul blames North Korea for mine blast, vows response

[webfact]

Seoul blames North Korea for mine blast, vows response
HYUNG-JIN KIM, Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Vowing to hit back, South Korea said Monday that North Korean soldiers laid the three mines that exploded last week at the border and maimed two South Korean soldiers.

South Korea's military said that Pyongyang will face unspecified "searing" consequences for the mine blasts at the Seoul-controlled southern part of the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone that bisects the Korean Peninsula. The planting of such mines would violate the armistice that ended fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War, which still technically continues.

The two wounded soldiers had been on a routine patrol. One lost both legs, while the other lost one leg.

The explosions come amid continuing bad feelings between the rival Koreas over the establishment of a U.N. office in Seoul tasked with investigating the North's alleged abysmal human rights conditions. Pyongyang also refuses to release several South Koreans detained in the North. Things are expected to get worse next week when Seoul and Washington launch annual summertime military drills, which the allies say are routine but that Pyongyang calls an invasion rehearsal.

Seoul's announcement on the mines will likely trigger a furious response from Pyongyang, which has denied a slew of previous provocations that South Korea has blamed on North Korea. The North typically calls the South's statements attempts to create anti-Pyongyang sentiments. In 2010, Seoul and a group of international expert investigators blamed Pyongyang for torpedoing a warship and killing 46 South Korean sailors. The North denies responsibility.

It's unclear what retaliatory measures Seoul might take for the mine explosion. Military strikes are unlikely, as the North has placed a huge portion of its artillery within striking distance of the South Korean capital of Seoul. Economic sanctions are impossible, but those imposed after the 2010 warship sinking are a source of tension between the rivals. Critics say the measures have also hurt South Korean businessmen who had earlier dealings with North Korea.

Investigations by South Korea and the American-led U.N. Command showed that splinters from the explosions were from wood box mines, which are used by North Korea, according to South Korea's Defense Ministry.

A statement from the U.N. Command Military Armistice Commission said the investigation determined that the devices were recently laid. It ruled out that they were old land mines that had drifted from their original placements because of rain or shifting soil.

The U.N. Command condemned what it called violations of the armistice.

Senior South Korean military officer Ku Hongmo told reporters that Seoul believes North Korean soldiers secretly crossed the border and laid the mines between July 23 and Aug. 3, the day before the three mines exploded.

The 2.5-mile-wide (4-kilometer) DMZ is jointly overseen by the U.N. Command and North Korea. South Korean troops patrol the southern part of the buffer zone, according to Seoul's Defense Ministry.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-08-10

[shaurene]

Something has to be done re the North. I think China has been expecting some thing for a long time and will just shout out.

[cookee68]

Another fruit cake running the country

[ABCer]

Fruit cake or basket case are NK leaders - this is irrelevant.

What is relevant - there is a drilled brainwashed obedient army that is trigger happy.

What is relevant - these miserable sods are also Koreans, many with relatives in the South.

What is relevant - Chinese, however chummy they are going with US, will not allow NK touched. Not to mention Russians. Purely for political reasons.

What is relevant - South Korea with all its economic power and advanced technology has no nukes and must rely on allies leaky umbrella.

What is relevant - the umbrella is not only leaky but too many countries are holding onto the handle. By leaky I mean that US priorities are slightly different from those of South Korea.

If not for the relevant reasons above - NK could be no problem in no time.

[stoli]

The solution to this is easy. Just have Obama send in John Kerry, who then, with Obamas blessing, would give South Korea to North Korea in a trade to promote peace. Oh, and throw in $150 billion to help the North make the transition. Sorry. I hate sarcasm myself, but could not resist this.

[Seastallion]

To place some mines that will injure only a handful of people is a low priority mission.....yet the NK soldiers crept across the DMZ to do it?

Either this is s set-up for some real aggression by the US/SK forces (hinted at for quite a while with all the "alarming" stories), or the DMZ is easy to cross from the north.

[ABCer]

To place some mines that will injure only a handful of people is a low priority mission.....yet the NK soldiers crept across the DMZ to do it?

Either this is s set-up for some real aggression by the US/SK forces (hinted at for quite a while with all the "alarming" stories), or the DMZ is easy to cross from the north.

This reminds me an old story/joke from the USSR border patrol.

A patrol dog handler was given a Hero Star for capturing 248 people who attempted illegal border crossing.

1 (one) - inbound.

247 - outbound.

The Calais problem has existed for ages.

P.S. The only inbound case was released from a psychiatric hospital in Vienna. But Russians took him anyway.