Verbal duel intensifies on Korean Peninsula as Seoul mulls UN Security Council intervention
- South Korea seeks apology over landmine blasts as North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong warns of ‘horrible’ consequences
By Faisal Mahmud
ISLAMABAD (AA) - South Korea said Thursday it plans to approach the UN Security Council over landmine explosions that injured three soldiers near the inter-Korean border last month, as North Korea issued fresh warnings against Seoul.
Seoul will send a letter to the Security Council president demanding an apology and accountability from Pyongyang over the Sept. 21 explosions in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), Yonhap News Agency reported.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Park Doo-soon said the letter would also call for dialogue to prevent further escalation.
A joint investigation by South Korea’s military and the UN Command concluded that North Korean mines planted south of the Military Demarcation Line violated the 1953 armistice.
Meanwhile, Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accused Seoul of fabricating allegations and interfering with Pyongyang’s border fortifications.
“We are not committing a ‘provocation’ but taking just reaction,” she said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Kim warned that North Korea would place new response capabilities on alert along its southern border and prepare loudspeakers targeting South Korea.
“If they make a ‘mistake’ wittingly or unwittingly,” she warned, “everything will be broken, crushed and collapsed terribly.”
Pyongyang maintains that its border fortification activities are legitimate defensive measures.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have escalated since last month, when three South Korean soldiers were wounded in an explosion inside the DMZ.
Seoul has blamed Pyongyang, which rejected the accusations.