00:23Three military officers have been injured after an explosion rocked a South Korean military
00:28operation inside the demilitarized zone, and now authorities are investigating whether a landmine caused the blast.
00:36The explosion happened Monday in the western sector of the DMZ, south of the military demarcation line.
00:44According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the blast occurred during a search operation.
00:50The military says the cause has not yet been confirmed, but a landmine explosion is being suspected.
00:56Two of the injured officers were taken to a hospital by emergency helicopter.
01:02Another injured officer, along with other soldiers involved in the operation, was also being escorted from medical checks.
01:09Now investigators are examining several possibilities.
01:13One possibility is that an unidentified landmine detonated during a route clearance operation inside the DMZ.
01:20Another possibility is that mines planted by North Korean troops were displaced by recent torrential rains and later exploded.
01:29And that distinction is important because authorities have not yet established whether the suspected mine was planted by North Korea
01:37or by South Korean forces.
01:39The South Korean military says it is investigating the exact cause of the explosion.
01:46It has also been in consultation with the United Nations Command after identifying terrain changes in some areas south of
01:54the DMZ.
01:54The incident comes amid heightened military activity along the heavily fortified border.
02:01Since April 2024, North Korea has been reinforcing sections of the border with barbed wire fences, mines and anti-tank
02:09barriers.
02:10This follows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's declaration that relations between the two Koreas should be treated as relations
02:18between two hostile states.
02:20For South Korea, unexploded mines remain a serious danger inside and around the DMZ.
02:27The latest blast is the first explosion reported inside the DMZ since November 2025, when a South Korean soldier suffered
02:36an ankle fracture during a mission to detect landmines.
02:40But this is not the first deadly landmine incident linked to the border.
02:44In August 2015, three wooden box mines buried by North Korea exploded on the South Korean side of the DMZ.
02:53Two South Korean soldiers were seriously injured.
02:57One lost both legs, while another lost an ankle.
03:00For now, however, officials are still working to determine exactly what caused Monday's explosion.
03:07Was it a mine encountered during a clearance operation?
03:11Was it a North Korean mine moved by heavy rain?
03:14Or was it something else?
03:16A North Korean soldier's
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